Digimon: Gog
by Fruitloop Trooper
Summary: After the events of Apocalypse, the XChosen are again assaulted, this time by a mysterious Fallen Chosen and a sinister government agency. After the unthinkable happens to Taichi and Yamato, who will be left to pick up the pieces?
1. The Fallen Chosen: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Digimon is own by Toei.

Author's Note: May not be suitable for young children. While the rating is due mostly to language and violence, there may be suggestive adult themes and situation. Better to be safe then sorry.

This is the sequel for Digimon Apocalypse, it is a very good idea to read that fic first.

Also, the name 'Gog,' has many definitions, but for the purposes of this tale, it refers to the Book of Revelation. Basically, after Armageddon, there will come a thousand years, and then will come the Battle of Gog and Magog. So, basically, it means, the battle after the last battle, or, in this case, the struggle after the end of the Digital World.

One more thing, this takes place after the defeat of GranDracmon, but before Taichi and Sora are married.

Enjoy.

Digimon: Gog

_The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall._

                                                                                                            -Francis Bacon

_My name is Taichi Yagami, and the past few months have been one hell of a ride. It started when a mysterious disease started to spread through the Chosen population. It was a computer virus that was designed to destroy all information on a computer hard drive, but once it mutated, it began to eat away all digital information, including digimon, and since Chosen had a high percentage of digital information in their bodies, the virus began to eat away at them as well. Both digimon and Chosen watched as their bodies vanished before them: they lost arms, legs, eyes, lungs, and they were the lucky ones. At its worst, the Second Black Death, or BD-2, could kill a Chosen within days. And it gets even worse, those Chosen that were dying slowly, their digimon couldn't evolve, and they required greater doses of digital energy, which meant many Infected Chosen started to live permanently in the Digital World._

_            That's what happened to Koushiro, Daisuke, Takeru, Miyako and Iori, they all caught BD-2, and died within the first wave of infection. But before he died, Koushiro managed to develop an antibody, he called it the X-Antibody, and set it lose. It was supposed to cure Chosen of the BD-2, and even prevent infection. And it worked…but only for 10 percent of the Chosen population. Me, Yamato, Hikari, Jyou, Mimi and Michael were among those modified by the X-Antibody, we called ourselves X-Chosen. Our digimon actually mutated, become stronger, more powerful, they even started to look different, and gain different evolutions, but because there were so few of us, Chosen that would never get sick, in a population that was now dying, we weren't too popular._

_            I had moved out of my parent's apartment and got a job as a coach at a local school. When I had enough money, I went to University, trying to get a degree in political science. Hikari graduated before me and got her teaching degree. She got her first job in a school not far from my apartment, so she became my roommate. Yamato was trying to become an astronaut, Jyou was in his internship at a hospital, Michael and Mimi got married, and h  became a television producer and produced her cooking show. _

_            But that was the good news, the number of Infected Chosen in the Digital World was growing rapidly. Thousands of Chosen lay dying in the cities of the Digital World, they needed help, they needed hope. And hope they got._

_            She called herself Chihi Miayag, and she was the Priestess to the God of the Digital World. She began to heal the Infected Chosen, and she selected a few to become the Digitalatri, her personal soldiers. She gave them the power to evolve their partners  to our former enemies: James from the London Chosen,  got Metalseadramon, Hiroshi, Keiko, and Takashi, formerly Dark Seed children, then members of the Odaiba Chosen, got Piedmon, Pinocchimon, and Mugen Dramon. Tatum and Sam from the New York Chosen got Archnemon and Mummymon, and Vicente from the Mexico Chosen got Skull Satanmon. They began to overwhelm the Digital World, turning everyone against us._

_            But they weren't even the worse, the mysterious Demon Lords appeared. Each one looked like a Chosen that had died, and they each had a corrupted crest, the opposite of our original crests. These seven started attacking girls across the globe, first Lynna from Australia, then Catherine in France, next was Anna from Moscow, Keeya from Africa, Iduia from Brazil, Maria from New York, and even Noriko and Sora._

_            As it turned out, they were the Daughters of the First, granddaughters of the First Chosen, they didn't even know it themselves. They were able to give us X-Chosen their power to have our digimon evolve.  The Demon Lords wanted to use their powers of the Elements to destroy the Digital World and remake it in their own image. We killed each one, until it was time to face their leader, Cahiti, the Demon King. He used the power he stole from all eight to finally destroy the Digital World, but me and Yamato were able to evolve with Agumon X and Gabumon X to Wargreymon X and Metalgarurumon X and killed him._

_            Things got weirder. Miayag found something she called 'The Staff of Yuushi." Yuushi was the leader of the First Chosen, and Miayag was his granddaughter…and Miayag's mother was my mother's younger sister! Miayag was my cousin! Which meant Yuushi was my grandfather too!_

_            Mina from India found weapons for me and Yamato; the Katana of Hidokoro and the Shotguns of Lucien. They were both First Chosen too, Hidokoro was Sora's grandfather and Lucien was Catherine's grandfather. And we needed them when we traveled to the center of the Digital World, which was revealed after the planet blew up. Inside was the Dark Area, and it was ruled by a demon called GranDracmon. He was the God that Miayag had been worshiping. He also created the Demon Lords for the purpose of destroying the Digital World to free himself. The remaining Digitalatri joined with us to fight him. We were losing, until all eight Daughters of the First, even Miayag, gave me and Yamato their powers. We  evolved together to Omegamon X and managed to kill him. _

_            The war was over, but we lost so many of our friends, Yuri from Russia, Keeya, Iduia, Maria and Catherine. But there was some good news, Sora and I fell in love, and so did Yamato and Noriko. _

_            It's been one year since we killed GranDracmon, and another battle is about to begin…_

_Digimon Gog_

_The Fallen Chosen:_

_Chapter 1_

            There once existed a mystical and magical world, the Digital World, which resided in a parallel universe. This universe was created as a result of the energies that were emitted from the technology of this universe. The Digital World soon gave birth to creatures called digimon, who were able to evolve to powerful versions of themselves, but as evil crept into that world, the digimon soon called to the humans for aid. These Chosen were partnered to a digimon, and together they were able to do wondrous feats, and defeat even the most powerful of enemies. This Digital World was then a realm where humans and digimon lived in peace. That was, until, it was destroyed, annihilated by an agent of the ultimate evil.

            However, there existed on that world, items of great power. These items would not perish, and so they floated within the void, spinning and twisting, until, through an error in time and space, a gate was open. It was as if a water faucet had been turned, and these items were pulled through.

            They traveled through dimensions until they arrived in the skies of the planet Earth. The gravity of Terra Firma soon grasped them and pulled them into the atmosphere, where they began to glow as brightly as shooting stars. Most shooting stars vanish during the journey, but these items would not, they were made of mystical material.

            These items…seven items, scattered across the planet, but three arrived over the skies of the Island of Japan. One of these objects fell to the north, another to the southwest, while the last fell to the south. The one in the north fell to the Island of Hokkaido, where it smashed into the snow-covered cap of the volcanic Mount Komaga-take, sending a wave of snow and rocks shooting into the sky. The second crashed into the mountainous southern region of the Island of Shikoku, while the third smashed into the Pacific Ocean, close enough to the Nichinan Coastline to assault the city with a massive tidal wave. This item imbedded within the ocean floor…an item that was more weapon…a brown Claymore sword to be precise…

111

            Within the Untied States City of Los Angeles, California resided the University of Southern California. This college was founded in 1880, and has housed a countless number of students, with a multitude of disciplinary degrees. One such major was philosophy, and one such student was a young woman who was intently interested in the professor's lecture.

            The elderly man pointed to a set of notes on the marker board. "So, as you can see, Kant believed that lying was the worst thing anyone could do."

            The young woman raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Seisou?'

            "If that is what Kant believed, how did he explain situations where it is sometimes better to lie?"

            "Can you explain that better?"

            She hesitated for a moment. "Suppose…suppose you know a drug addict, and you want to help them, so you hide their drugs, but then when they ask you, are you suppose to tell them?"

            The professor considered his answer. "According to Kant, you should not lie, but it's possible that he would also say that would should alert the authorities, rather then take that task on yourself."

            She fidgeted. "What if it is someone you did not want to be sent to jail…someone like your mother?"

            The professor nodded. "While you bring up good points, I think we might be moving away from the topic here..." He glanced to the clock hanging on the wall, "And we're out of time. I'll see you next week."

            The students began to gather up their belongings, as did she. She dropped her supplies into her bag and filed out of the room. She passed by the other students, who were chatting loudly with one another. She kept her head low, and kept as well as she could out of sight. She was similar enough to them, just an ordinary girl, dressed in a pink sweater, an orange skirt, and a pair of simple white sneakers. She had her messy hair held in a long tail by a thick hair band. She could easily pass for a normal human, but she was not a normal human, she was a Chosen, a defender of Earth, but one that used the mysterious world of the digital to do so. But she chose to hide herself for another reason, her past was not as innocent as some of the others students, and it was this past she strived to overcome.

            As she walked into the school's cafeteria, she passed by a group of young adults that had been in her previous class. "Hey, Megumi!"a girl with blond hair called.

            The young woman turned to face them. "Hello, Amy," she responded.

            The blond girl giggled. "I can't believe we have sit through that class, its so boring!"

            Megumi shrugged. "It is my major."

            The other girl blushed slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

            Megumi smiled. "Yes, but it is boring, isn't it?"

            Amy began to laugh, then glanced over her shoulder. Her friends had already commandeered a table. "Why don't you join us?" she asked.

            Megumi hesitated. "I…"

            Amy grabbed her arm and dragged her to the table. "You always sit by yourself! It's not good for you, now come on."

            The other young adults all greeted her, and she felt at ease enough, to place her bag down and sit beside them. One of the young men, Scott, began to speak to her. "Um, we were wondering, that thing you were talking about in class, about your mother…?"

            She studied each of them carefully. They appeared to be genuinely concerned, maybe the only reason they asked her to sit with them was because they were curious about her, but it was not for selfish reasons, simply, they were worried about her.

            She sighed. "It is…" She sighed again.

            Amy placed a hand on her shoulder. "Was your mother…a drug user?"

            Megumi nodded. "Yes."

            "I'm sorry," another girl, Courtney, said, "Did she…did she ever get help?"

            The young woman shook her head. "No, she did not."

            The table fell silent. "What about your father?"

            "He…he was killed when I was still a child."

            Amy gasped. "Then…you're all alone?"

            "Well, I do have an aunt and cousins in Japan…"

            "But, what about here? You're living…alone?"

            "I have an apartment a few blocks from here."

            "But…how do you pay for it?"

            She smiled slightly. "I have no siblings or other relatives, I am the sole heir to my parents' estate."

            Scott raised an eyebrow. "They were rich?"

            "They possessed…enough…" she smiled slightly.

            "But, you live alone?" Amy asked again.

            "Wait," Courtney said, "Didn't I see you around campus with your dog?"

            "Dog?" Amy squealed.

            Megumi began to sweat slightly. "Well, she is more of a puppy…"

            "Oh, that's so cute! What's her name?"

            Megumi was about to respond, when a sudden jolt shook through her body. Her heart seized, her body spasm, and a great pressure exploded in her head, threatening to tear her apart. She gripped her head and screamed a bloodied roar before collapsing to the floor.

111

            Across the might Pacific Ocean, the nation of Japan was just beginning to notice the falling items that assailed them. Within the section of Tokyo known as Shinjuku, Taichi and Hikari Yagami's apartment was oddly quiet, and, Hikari noted, staring into the guest room, empty. As she stared into the vacant room, she momentarily saw a young woman inside, seated on a wheelchair, as she was missing both of her legs beneath her knees.

"Hikari?"

She twisted and saw Plotmon X standing in the hall. "Oh, good morning."

"You were thinking about Maria?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes. I can't believe it, she was only here for a few weeks, but…she made such a difference in our lives, it's so empty without her."

            Plotmon X only nodded. "Yeah, I know, but…."

            Hikari nodded quickly, taking deep breaths to control her tears. "Yeah, we have to move forward." She dried her eyes and continued on her path down the hall. As she did, she passed by her brother's room. She knocked on the door slightly. "Taichi, are you going to have breakfast?"

            She did not hear a response, so she assumed he was still sleeping. It was early in the morning, and he did come home after she had fallen asleep. She just shrugged and walked into the kitchen. While she made her breakfast, she turned on the television; it was in the living room, and there was a window in the wall that served as a divider, so she was able to watch and hear the device clearly.

            A young woman sat behind the news desk. "…The Japanese Meteorological Agency has detected a spike in seismic activity in Hokkaido, specifically, the Oshima Peninsula. Results are sketchy at this time, but it is believed to be caused by Komaga-take, who's last known eruption occurred in 2000. There is no evidence that it is about to erupt, but citizens in neighboring areas have been put on high alert. A similar reading was given for Shikoku Island, and the Kochi Prefecture has been put on alert as well. It is not know if there is any connection between these two."

            Hikari sighed slightly. "I hope they'll be okay."

            After breakfast she returned to her room. She glanced through her closet before grabbing an outfit that was draped around a hanger. She removed her robe, placing it gently within the closet before discarding her white pajamas, throwing them into the clothes hamper. She then quickly pulled on her pink blouse and white skirt before applying her makeup. Satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her school supplies and walked into the hall. She paused by her brother's door again and knocked once more. "Taichi? I'm leaving for work."

            When she did not hear a response, she began to grow concerned. "Taichi?" She stepped inside and saw only darkness. She began to slide her hand along the wall before she found the light switch. After clicking it on, the room became illuminated, and she saw that her brother was lying in his bed…only perpendicular, with his mouth open wide and a glazed look in his eyes.

            She dropped her bags and ran to him. "Taichi?" she asked, shaking him slightly, "Taichi!"

            He groaned slightly and slowly moved his hand, rubbing his head. "H…Hikari? Don't talk so loud…"

            She frowned. "You had me so worried! Please don't come home like that anymore…"

            He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What? No I…I wasn't drinking…"

            Hikari crossed her arms. "Then please explain why you were like that."

            "I was just coming back from the bathroom when I…" He shook his head, "This pain just shot through me, I…I just collapsed."

            She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you didn't just have a hallucination?"

            He stared at her. "I'm not making this up!"

            Her face softened slightly. "Well…maybe you just had a bad headache?"

            He shook his head. "I don't think it was a seizure or anything like that…"

            But before he could continue, they both heard Agumon X, who had been lying on the floor close to the far wall, suddenly gasp. "Taichi!"

            He twisted around and gasped as well. Taichi's digital weapon, the Katana of Hidokoro, which had been resting peacefully on Taichi's dresser, was now glowing a bright red color. "W…what does this mean?" Hikari asked.

            Taichi shook his head. "I…I don't know."

            Agumon X frowned, "I bet its bad news, whatever it is."

111

            A similar scene had occurred at Yamato's apartment. The blond man was sleeping peacefully, with Noriko lying beside him, her arm lying around his chest. As they slept, Yamato suddenly shot upright, a deep scream emanating from his lips.

            "Yamato!" Noriko shrieked, leaping to her feet, "Yamato!"

            Then, suddenly as the mysterious night terror had occurred, the blond man's eyes closed and he fell back to his pillow. Noriko grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him. "Yamato, Yamato, wake up!"

            His eyes suddenly shot open. "Wha..?" he asked, "Noriko what's…" He suddenly gripped his head, "Oh man…why does my head hurt so much?"

            "You woke up screaming!" she exclaimed, "Don't you remember?"

            He shook his head. "No…was I dreaming?"

            The young woman sighed. "Well, at least you're all right now."

            As they both lay back to sleep, had they glanced to the shelf on the right, they would have seen Yamato's Shotguns of Lucien glowing a bright white.

111

            These three were not the only ones to feel the mysterious items' planet fall. In the countryside of Japan, a simple house sat nested within the mountainside. Inside this, home, however, was a man that was anything but ordinary.

He was seated in a armchair, wide awake-he had very little need for sleep lately. This senior citizen was gripping the armrests as hard as he could; his body was shaking, beads of sweat were pouring down his face. He panted heavily, "I…I….will…not…pass…out…I am…stronger…then…this!"

The pain soon subsided and the old man fell back into his recliner. As he panted heavily, he managed to grin to himself. "So, the First Chosen's legacy yet lives…"

            He rose to his feet and stared out the window to the pre-dawn sky, "After all this time, I shall have my vengeance at last!"

111

            _The priest glanced to the young man. "Taichi Yagami, do you take Sora to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, for long as you both shall live?"_

_            He nodded. "I do."_

_            The priest turned to the young woman. "Sora Takenouchi, do you take Taichi to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, for long as you both shall live?"_

_            She nodded. "I do."_

_            "Then I hereby pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."_

_            Sora grinned as she turned to face Taichi, but her grin quickly faded and her heart turned to ice when she saw the skin on her husband's face begin to melt away, revealing a rotting skeleton wearing her clothes._

_            She began to scream, but the skeleton pulled her closer and laughed, "…for long as we both shall live…."_

            Sora gasped loudly as she bolted upright in her bed. "Just…just a dream…" she panted, "Just a dream…"

            That realization gave her no comfort, however. Since discovering that she was the Daughter of Fire, she also discovered that she was the Second Messenger, but with Catherine's death, she was now the _only_ Messenger. As such, she was a prophet, she was able to have glimpses of the past or future. Was her nightmare simply a bad dream…or was it a premonition of a horror to come?

            She glanced at her clock, it was nine thirty. "Might as well get up," she said.

            She threw off her covers and grabbed the crutches that were resting against the wall. Positioning them beneath her arms, she began to limp forward on her remaining leg. She hobbled over to her dresser, and grabbed a pair of clean undergarments. She continued into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

            She peeled her sleepwear from her body, then followed with her bra and thong. While she allowed the water to fill the bath, she turned her attention to what was remaining of her left leg. The Second Black Death her had eaten away most of her leg, but the infection had not spread much father. She removed the bandages wrapping that leg, then glanced at her reflection to removed the bandage covering her right eye…or rather, eye _socket_ as that eye had been devoured by BD-2 months ago. Like her leg, the infection had not spread any further, and she was beginning to hope that perhaps her nightmare had ended.

            After finishing her bath and pulling on her clean undergarments, she returned to her room to choose her clothes for the day. She remembered that she was seeing Jyou today, so she slid on an ankle-length red skirt and a matching sweater, as the temperature was close to freezing outside.

            She limped into the kitchen and found that her partner was already awake. "Good morning," she said, "I didn't think you'd be up."

            The pink bird shrugged. "Yeah…well…How did you sleep?"

            She frowned. "Not well. I had this bad dream."

            "Really? About what?"

            She shook her head. "It's nothing…" She sighed, "At least I hope not…"

111

            The city of Kochi had been put on technical lock down. No planes where allowed in or out of the city, all cars needed to be check and double check. The official report was that terrorist training ground had been operating on the Shikoku coastline, and that one of their bombs had gone off prematurely, causing the loud explosion that woke many of the citizens that morning. Witness testimony had been carefully examined, and any references to a 'shooting star' had been effectively removed.

            The government was quick to respond, and by ten that morning, more then a dozen government agents were scouring the coast…but those special agents were focused on the massive crater that had appeared on the beach.

            A young woman, early to mid-20's, was observing a group of five or six men, all dressed in hazmat suits, digging at the sand. No one spoke, the less that was said, the less to later be used against them. In the three hours since arriving, very little had been spoken at all, that is, until one of the men called out to her.

            "Lieutenant! We've found something."

            The woman walked over, swinging her light purple hair behind her back before kneeling down. Dug partially away from the sand was a strange item, a black metal stick with a spiked ball connection via a chain. She gasped slightly, then stood up. "Sir, you're gonna wanna take a look at this."

            Moments later a man dressed in a black business suit marched over. He knelt down as well, staring intensely at the item. He did not speak, so the lieutenant cleared her throat. "It's possible that this is some kind of ancient weapon, buried here for thousands of years…"

            "The samurai were sword-masters," he interrupted, "They wouldn't have used this type of weapon. This is what we're looking for."

            The woman nodded. "Okay, get this packed ASAP!"

            The men quickly began to remove the item. The man in the black suit reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette lighter, which he began to click rapidly.

            Unbeknownst to all, they were being watched. A distance away, hidden within the mountains and trees surrounding the beach, an elderly man was observing them through a powerful telescope. He was not able to hear them, unfortunately, but as he watched the hazmat-dressed men lift the mysterious weapon, he growled. "Damn."

111

            Yamato glanced at his watch. "He's always late."

            He leaned back in the bench and watched as the young adults traversed the campus. He had been waiting for over an hour, and he was amazed that the quad of Tokyo University was never empty; he guessed it must have had something to do with the fact that not all classes were at the same time, but did that mean that students were always rushing to class? He really was not much for college anyway.

            "Yamato!"

            He glanced to his right and saw Taichi running towards him. "You're late."

            The brown-haired young man gave a slight smile. "Yeah, sorry about that, I had an exam, it ran kinda long…"

            Yamato nodded. "Yeah…I'm so glad I don't have to worry about that anymore…"

            The brown-haired young man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, when your musical career ends, don't come crying to me for money."

            "Yeah yeah…I've had to hear that from my parents too. Now, what did you want to talk about?"

            Taichi narrowed his eyes. "About eight thirty this morning…"

            Yamato interrupted, "You got that weird feeling too?"

            "Feeling? It was more like my head was going to explode!"

            "Well…what do you think it was?"

            He shrugged. "I don't know, but I've got the feeling whatever it is…it's going to be bad."

            Yamato sighed. "Yeah, me too." He nodded slightly. "Hey, what did Jyou want to see Sora about?"

            Taichi blinked. "What?"

            "What did Jyou…"

            "No, I heard you. What are you talking about?"

            "You mean Sora didn't tell you?"

            "No!"

            Yamato raised his hands. "Easy…easy…Jyou wanted to see Sora about something. She was going with Noriko, she didn't tell you?"

            Taichi shook his head. "No, she didn't. We don't live together yet, not like you and Noriko."

            Yamato rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, that doesn't mean anything, we haven't even set a date yet."

            The other young man nodded. "Yeah…me and Sora…" He smiled slightly "It's in June…"

            The blond man nodded. "Yeah, I know. Noriko won't shut up about it."

            Taichi chuckled and placed his hand on the other man's shoulder. "My friend, get used to it now, because that's what they're going to be doing for the rest of our lives…"

            Standing behind them, at a distance safe far enough not to be seen, but close enough to hear, was an elderly man dressed in an ankle-length trench jacket. He chuckled slightly, "So, the Heir of Fire and the Heir of Light, the King and Prince of the Chosen…"

111

            Jyou smiled as he saw two familiar young women, one with jet black hair, and another with bright orange hair. He ran through the lobby to help them enter when he remembered that the doors were automatic. He hid his embarrassment and continued to smile. "Sora, Noriko, glad you could make it."

            "I'm kind of nervous," the redheaded woman grinned, following Jyou down the hospital halls, "I can't believe this is really going to happen!"

            "Well," Jyou said, "With the Second Black Death infection slowing down, I think now might be the best time."

            "We're both slowing down," Noriko spoke up, "Uh…I mean our infections…"

            Jyou nodded. "Yes, I think it has something to do with your powers. If you weren't Daughters of the First, you might be…well…"

            "Screwed?" Noriko asked.  
            Jyou sighed. "Yes…screwed…" He led them through the maze of halls until they arrived at the third floor, which was much quieter and calm, rather then the chaos of the lower floors. He brought them to a room in the far corner, where a young woman dressed in hospital scrubs was standing. There was a standard examination table in the center with a cart to the right, with an unusual piece of equipment resting on top.

            "Hello Kiku," Sora smiled as she limped inside on her crutches.

            The young woman nodded. "Hello Sora, hi Noriko, how are you today?"

            "Pretty excited," Sora grinned.

            Noriko smirked. "Yeah, she's been acting like a five-year-old the entire way here."

            Kiku chuckled, "Well, she's been looking forward to this day, right? How about your fiancé?"

            "He doesn't know," Sora responded, "It's going to be a surprise."

            "Well, that's sure going to make him happy," she grinned. She patted on the examination table, and Sora used her remaining leg to leap onto the table. She sat at the edge, with her lower limbs hanging off the edge.

            Kiku grabbed the prosthetic leg off of the cart. Sora reached down and punched up the skirt to her waist. Kiku knelt down and gently placed the stump of Sora's missing leg into the top of the prosthetic and secured it by wrapping the fabric buckles around her leg. She looked up at the red-headed woman. "Ready?"

            Sora hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Ready." She took a deep breath and slid off of the table. She felt the pressure on her leg stump, for the first time in half a year. She stepped forward, raising her prosthetic leg first, but she knew that the real test would be the nest step. She put all of her weight on the fake leg, and lifted her true leg. She lost her balance and would have fallen to the ground, if Noriko and Jyou had not grabbed her.

            "Are you okay?" Noriko gasped.

            "Y…yeah," she replied, as the others helped her back to her feet, "Just…have to get used to it."

            "You'll do fine," Jyou smiled.

            After spending an hour practicing her new leg, Sora and Noriko thanked Jyou and Kiku and exited the hospital. They begin their trek back across the city.

They were not aware of it, but as they marched through the crowds, an elderly man draped in a trench coat was following them.

111

            Hikari finished double-checking her math before using her red pen to write a large 87 on the top of the essay paper. She also wrote, "Excellent work, you've really shown improvement."

            She gave a small sigh, and then gathered up the papers she had already written and dropped them into her bag. After checking to make certain that she had not forgotten anything, she slung her bag and purse over her shoulder. She turned off the light and locked her classroom door. She noticed how bare the halls were, and the only sound was the sound of her heels echoing through the walls.

            Once she reached the parking lot, she realized how late it actually was, as her car was the only vehicle in the parking lot…besides the janitors, that is. She used her keyless remote the open the hood to drop her bags inside.

            "Hey there, need a hand?"

            She spun around quickly, but grinned when she saw a blond-haired young man standing before her. "Mitsuo!" she cried, wrapping her arms around him.

            "Hi, Hikari," her boyfriend responded, kissing her lightly.

            "Mitsuo, I didn't know you were coming home today!" she exclaimed, barely able to contain her excitement, "How was your trip?"

            He shrugged. "You know, government meetings are so boring…"

            "But you got to see Kanto, right?" she asked, "How was the Pacific Ocean?"

            "To tell the truth, I didn't really get to spend much time there, I was usually stuffed inside a conference room with a bunch of other officials, and with that much hot air, of course nothing got done." He smiled, "Hey, why don't I tell you about it over dinner?"

            She hesitated. "Um…"

            He blinked. "What?"

            "I'm…I'm just really tired, it was a long day, and…" she smiled slightly, "Why don't you come over for dinner? Taichi's got a late class, and Agumon and Plotmon won't bother us…"

            He smiled slightly. "Sure, I'll even cook so you can rest."

            Hikari laughed. "What did I do to deserve someone like you?"

            He hugged her tightly. "I was just wondering how I deserved someone like you…"

111

Sora and Noriko had returned to Sora's apartment, where Piyomon and Plotmon had been waiting. After eating a small meal, Sora was eager to continue practicing with her prosthetic leg, so they decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the park, before it became too dark or cold to enjoy it. With the two digimon pretending to be stuffed animals, Sora was moving slower then normal, as she was walking without her crutches. Noriko was displaying unusual patience, but then again, Sora was her best friend.

            They two chatted as they continued down the sidewalk. "So, are you getting excited?" Noriko asked, "It's only eight months away…"

            Sora smiled slightly at her friend. "We're starting to discuss it."

            "Well, just let me know when you're going to pick out the bridesmaid dresses."

            "Why?"

            "Well, I think I should have some input, right?"

            Sora did not answer.

            Noriko's smile faded. "R…right? I'm gonna be your Maid of Honor, right?"

            Sora grinned. "Yes, of course you're gonna be my Maid of Honor. It'd be kind of weird since Yamato's going to be Taichi's Best Man…" She suddenly gasped, "You can't tell Yamato!"

            "What? Why?"

            "Because Taichi hasn't asked him yet. Please Noriko, don't say anything."

            The other woman grinned. "Okay, sure, I'll keep quiet for as long as you need me to…" Her smile faded, "He's going to ask soon…right?"

            The redhead shrugged. "I don't know…"

            "Hey Sora," Piyomon whispered from her place on Sora's back, "If you and Taichi get married, what does that make me and Agumon?"

            The redhead stopped for a moment. "I…I don't know, I never really thought about it…"

            Noriko turned to her own partner, who was hanging like a bag from her shoulder. "You guys don't really have relationships, right?"

            "Well," Plotmon said, "Not really, but there have been digimon that kind of…stay together for the rest of their lives, but it's not the same as marriage."

            "But it's like marriage," Piyomon added.

            Noriko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that helps…"

            "Noriko," Sora said in a lower voice.

            Noriko blinked. "What?"

            "Someone's following us."

            Noriko went to turn her head over her shoulder, but Sora whispered fiercely, "No, don't turn around! Just keep walking."

            "Who is it?" Plotmon asked.

            "I don't know."

            Noriko managed to turn her head slightly and use her peripheral vision to catch a glimpse of the figure behind her; it was an elderly man dressed in a trench coat.  "Ya think it's just some pervert or something?"

            "I don't know," she replied, "Something weird about him…"

            "He's an fucking 100-year-old following two 25-year-olds around, of course there's something weird about him!"

            The two young women then heard a sound that caused their spines to turn to ice. "The Daughter of Fire and the Daughter of Darkness…"

            "Shit," Noriko muttered.

            The two young women turned around and saw the devilish grin of the elderly man. "All right," Sora said, "It's obvious you know who we are, but who are you?"

            "A name would probably mean nothing to you," he answered, "But I am a Chosen that has Fallen."

            "A Fallen Chosen?" Noriko asked, "How can you be a Chosen? You're at least what, a hundred years old?"

            He narrowed his eyes. "Nothing that old, I'm afraid, I am of the esteemed age of 81."

            "81?" Sora gasped, "But, that means you had to be…"

            Both young women and their partners gasped at the same time, "You knew the First Chosen?"

            "Know them?" he chuckled, "I _fought_ them!"

            "W…what do you want?" Sora asked.

            The Fallen Chosen turned to her. He narrowed his eyes, "The Daughter of Fire? Pathetic!"

            "What the hell does that mean?" Piyomon snapped.

            "Simply that you have extraordinary power…" He glanced at Noriko, "_Both_ of you, and yet, that power can not be utilized because of a simple infection…"

            "Simple?" Noriko gasped, "_Simple?_ Look at my arms! Look! The skin's falling off! Sora doesn't have a leg or eye!"

            "And because of that, your partners cannot even evolve past the Adult level without causing you considerable strain, you who should be the mightiest, now you are a far second to those you call X-Chosen."

            "Shut up!" Plotmon screamed, "Shut the fuck up!"

            The mysterious man chuckled. "I've touched a nerve I see. Let me get to the point, where is the Flail of Chance?"

            Both young women glanced at one another. "Flail of Chance?"

            He smiled slightly. "That's right, you don't know…your grandparents swore never to tell you anything about their time in the Digital World…damn Yuushi's oath. Well, I know that you have been in contact with the other descendents of the First Chosen, and they must have lead that man to that beach, how else did he find it, right?"

            The four females glanced at one another. "What is he talking about?" Plotmon asked.

            Noriko shook her head. "I think this guy's completely insane! I mean, how could he be a Chosen? Even a First Chosen, or Fallen Chosen or whatever he said. That was like fifty years ago, shouldn't his digimon's data have disintegrated by now?"

            The Fallen Chosen chuckled. "Yes, while the data of a digimon can't remain in one form forever, there is a why around that."

            "What?"

            "That is not your concern. Now, as I was saying, the location of the Flail of Chance may not be within your feeble minds, but I would guess with certainty that whoever took it, knows you, so they would be willing to trade."

            "Trade?" Sora blinked.

The Fallen Chosen grinned. "I will give you the dignity of surrendering."

            "What?" Sora asked.

            "You don't expect them to give me the Flail of Chance without a bargaining chip, right? And I'm sure Yuushi's grandson, even if he doesn't know where it is, will do anything to ensure his whore's safety…"

            "You bastard," Sora growled.

            "We're not going anywhere with you, you jack ass!" Noriko shouted.

            He shook his head. "I'm sure you know that I'm not giving you a choice, there's nothing you can do but surrender…"

            "You don't scare us!" Piyomon shouted.

            The Fallen Chosen reached inside of his jacket and pulled out a large egg with a dark color.

            "Digitama?!" both young women gasped.

            He smirked and threw the egg into the sky. It began to glow brightly for the merest of moments before exploding, revealing a terrifying sight, a dinosaur-like creature with a long neck, yellow scales, and a metal mid-section with giant mechanical wings flapping in the evening light.

            Both Piyomon and Plotmon leapt from their partners' bodies. "Hey, Plotmon," the Chick digimon gasped, "That's Raptordramon, right?"

            The Mammal digimon nodded. "Yeah, I think so…"

            "Who's Raptordramon?" Sora asked.

            "A dinosaur digimon that's supposed to be extinct."

            The Fallen Chosen chuckled, "That's only because the First Chosen drove them to extinction, another sin they will pay for…" He chuckled, "Rather, their _descendants_ will pay for…"

            Sora and Noriko glanced at one another. "How strong is Raptordramon?" Sora asked.

            Piyomon shivered slightly. "Fully Evolved…"

            Sora grinned slightly. "Well, two against one's pretty good odds, right?"

            Noriko chuckled, "I'm with you."

            Both young women grasped their digivices, and the vacant area of the park was suddenly illuminated.

            "Piyomon evolve to Birdramon! Birdramon evolve to Garudamon!"

            "Plotmon evolve to Black Tailmon! Black Tailmon evolve to Ladydevimon!"

            Raptordramon stared at them. "An overgrown-hummingbird and a dominatrix with wings? Come now, where is your power? Evolve again!"

            They did not answer.

            The Cyborg digimon roared with laughter. "If you can't evolve, then this will be quicker then I thought…"

            Ladydevimon shot forward, her arm twisting and turning into a sharp-pointed needle. "Darkness Spear!"

            She slashed at Raptordramon's chin, and his neck was flung backwards. She was about to jab him again, but he flung around and clipped her with his wing. She twisted in the air, but was able to quickly recover.

            Garudamon shot like a bullet towards the Cyborg, but at the last second, twisted her body around so her talons were pointing directly at his face. "Eagle Claw!" Her feet quickly began a quick succession of movements, bashing him with a kick before slashing with her claws. He whipped his log tail around and managed to whack her in the face. She was injured, but grabbed his tail and began to spin him around in a tight circle.

            "Yeah!" Sora cheered.

            Garudamon shot in to the air, intending to throw him into the ground with a mighty pile-river, but Raptordramon suddenly executed a burst of speed and broke free. He twisted around in the air, but kept his momentum the same, so that when he head-butted Garudamon in the chest, it was at full force. Even the impressive size of the Bird Man did not save her.

            "Garudamon!" Sora gasped.

            Ladydevimon rushed to her friend's side and threw her hands apart in a semi-circle. "Darkness Wave!"

            Raptordramon folded his wing around like a giant metallic shield, protecting himself from the Fallen Angel's wrath. When he flung his wing back open, it created a burst of wind that nearly knocked the two flying digimon to the ground. They were able to remain in the air, however.

            Raptordramon chuckled as he appeared to crack his neck. "Nice work, you're as good as your reputation."

            Noriko growled. "You're about to see how good we are! Ladydevimon, tear him apart! Come on, don't let him beat you!"

            The Fallen Angel whipped out her claws before flying forward. She slashed Raptordramon's side, but his metallic stomach showed no sign of injury. He spun around quickly, his tail whacking into her before his wings and then outstretched head did. Instead of finishing his attack, he shot backwards, positioning his head directly in front of the Fallen Angel.

            "Ambush Crunch!"

            He exploded forward, opening his mouth to reveal a set of sharp teeth. He used these fangs to rip through Ladydevimon's side, taking a large chunk out of her stomach.

            "Ladydevimon!" Noriko cried.

            The Fallen Angel hovered in the air for a moment before falling to earth. Her body was covered by a bright light and regressed to her Child form of Plotmon. Noriko ran forward and caught the digimon in her arms.

            Garudramon did not show her surprise. She merely flew into the sky and extended her arms. "Shadow Wing!"

            An energy blast in the shape of her shadow erupted from her body and flew on a collision course with Raptordramon. She was expecting the Cyborg to dodge it, which would have given her the opportunity to attack him from behind, but to her surprise, he did not move, simply allowing the energy blast to strike him directly! The Bird Man was silent, but then nearly cried out in shock when the Cyborg was unharmed.

            Raptordramon pulled back, then erupted forward once more, using his teeth to take rip a fair amount of skin from Garudamon's chest. As she clutched her injured torso, she slowly hovered back towards the ground. She too, regressed to her Child form.

            The Fallen Chosen chuckled. "As you can see, you pale in my might. " Raptordramon lowered himself and hovered above his partner. The old man began to walk forward. "Now, we were discussing your surrender…"

             Suddenly he stopped and twisted his head to his partner. Raptordramon began to glow brightly as well, soon returning to a digimon's first form, the Digitama. "No! Damn it, not yet!"

            Even if his partner could hear him, it would have done no good. The Digitama fell to the ground, and the Fallen Chosen dove forward and caught it within his arms. He glanced over his shoulder at the two young women and smiled slightly. "You'd best warn the thief who stole the Flail of Chance, I'm coming."

            He shoved the egg into his jacket and disappeared into the evening light.

_The Interlude begins…_


	2. The Fallen Chosen: Chapter 2

Author's Note: This is an Alternate Reality Fic, meaning, that this story does not follow the mainstream digimon universe. For the purposes of this fic: The X-Antibody was created by Koushiro Izumi to battle the Second Black Death, but only ten percent of the Chosen population was compatible.

            _My name is Yamato Ishida, and I am an X-Chosen. I was modified by the X-Antibody shortly after it was released into the Digital World. Unfortunately, it came too late for my brother, and many of our friends. Me, Taichi, Hikari, Jyou, Mimi and Michael were all saved, but…I don't know, I guess I felt kind of guilty that I survived when so many others didn't._

_            One morning me and Taichi both felt this really strange feeling, like a sharp pain in our heads. We didn't know it at the time, but that was because items from the destroyed Digital World fell to Earth. One landed in Okinawa, the other in Hokkaido and the third fell in Shikoku. This item was picked up by the Japanese Government, while this weird old man watched._

_            For some reason, that old man thought we knew where that item was, so he attacked Sora and Noriko to find out. His partner, Raptordramon, actually beat them, but before he could finish them, he de-evolved back to a Digitama, and he and the Fallen Chosen ran off._

_Digimon Gog_

_The Fallen Chosen:_

_Chapter 2_

            After their encounter with the mysterious Fallen Chosen, Sora and Noriko quickly alerted the X-Chosen. Taichi was in an evening class and Yamato was in a recording studio with his band. Neither one had their cellphones powered on, so neither one received the message. Hikari and Jyou were the only ones to receive the urgent alert, and they quickly ran to Sora's apartment. Hikari had invited her boyfriend, Mitsuo to dinner, but he understood when she was forced to cancel. Jyou had not any plans for that evening, so he was free to join them.

            "Thanks for coming," Sora smiled.

            Hikari nodded and lightly grasped the older woman's hands, "Please, what happened?"

The redhead nodded quickly. "He called himself a Fallen Chosen and he claimed he fought the First Chosen. He wanted to know where something called the Flail of Chance. He thought we knew for some reason."

            "Flail of Chance?" Gomamon X asked, "What's a Flail?"    

            The room feel silent. Noriko smiled sheepishly. "Oh, right. I guess we should have found that out first, huh?"

            "That sounds familiar," Jyou mused, "Kind of like…like…" He began to lightly rub his chin, "Sora, can I use your computer?"

            She blinked. "Huh? Oh, yeah, come on." She limped into the room that she used as her artists' room. She led Jyou to her desktop, which was in the corner. When Hikari passed by Sora's artists table, she examined some of the designs that were lying scattered on the easel. They were mostly dresses, with a few kimonos, skirts and pants. She saw one item that caused her heart to beat with anticipation-a bikini that was designed with white and pink flowers. "Sora, I love this!"

            The redhead smiled. "Hikari, if your brother saw you wearing that, he'd probably lock you in your room for the entire summer."

            The younger woman frowned. "Yeah. I love Taichi to death, but he can be so overprotective sometimes."

            Sora frowned. "Yes, I know. We went out the other night, and I was wearing this low-cut shirt, and he completely flipped out!" She turned to Noriko, "Does Yamato ever act that way?"

            "Huh?" she blinked. She had been staring at a design for a dress.

            "Never mind."

            Jyou called out. "Here, I've found something."

            They glanced over his shoulder to examine the computer screen. The monitor was displaying an image of a weapon that resembled a spiked ball and chain, with the chain attached to a wooden stick. "What's that?" Plotmon X asked.

            "That's a flail," Jyou explained, "It's a medieval weapon, sometimes erroneously called a mace or morning star."

            "A weapon?" Sora gasped, "The Flail of Chance…just like the Katana of Fire and Shotguns of Light!"

            "Another weapon?" Noriko asked, "But…Chance wasn't one of the First Chosen's powers."

            "That's right," Sora said, "My grandfather, Hidokoro of Fire, Noriko's grandmother, Daiyu of Darkness, Lucien of Light, Montenagro of Earth, Abungu of Forest, Zorion of Metal, Kendra of Water, Svetlana of Air, and Yuushi of Fate. But what weapons did they have? I don't remember."

            "We'd need the Machina Codex," Jyou said, "Where is it?"

            "It's in Taichi's room," Hikari frowned.

            "Uh, that's okay," the young man said, "But why wasn't this guy or the Flail of Chance mentioned with the other First Chosen?"

            "If he was a Fallen Chosen, then he probably wouldn't be," Plotmon X said, "Devimon and Ladydevimon are Fallen Angels, and they're not mentioned when talking about Angemon or Angewomon."

            "That makes sense," Hikari said, "But why did he think _we_ knew where it was?"

            Piyomon nodded. "He said someone stole it, and that only _we_ could have led that person to it."

            Jyou sighed. "All right, let's try to think this through…a Fallen Chosen shows up and starts demanding to know where his weapon is, but he said that someone stole it, and that we were the only ones that could have led that person there….but if this guy had this weapon the whole time, why didn't he use it sooner?"

            "Because he didn't have it?" Noriko's Plotmon suggested.

            "That's what I'm guessing…and if he's suddenly looking for it right now, then he must have gotten some clue recently…"

            "Wait a second," Noriko said, "This morning, Yamato woke up screaming from a dream..."

            Hikari gasped. "Taichi nearly passed out from some kind of pain this morning."

            Plotmon X nodded. "And you know if Taichi nearly passed out, it probably would have killed someone else."

            Sora thought of her own dream, a terrifying nightmare of a skeleton-Taichi, but said nothing.

            "Okay," Jyou said, "Taichi and Yamato both felt something this morning…could that just be a coincidence? Or did it have something to do with the Flail of Chance?"

            "What do Taichi and Yamato have in common?" Gomamon X asked.

            Noriko chuckled, "Besides being engaged to the Daughters of the First that are the strongest? Not to mention the sexiest too."

            The others rolled their eyes.

            "Wait a second," Sora said, "They both have Holy Weapons!"

            "And if the Flail of Chance somehow sent out a signal, they could have all felt it!" Jyou gasped.

            Hikari lowered her head slightly. "Megumi has a weapon, I wonder if she felt it too?"

            "Why don't you call and ask?" Jyou suggested.

            The young woman sighed slightly. "I don't know where she is. After we beat GranDracmon, she just disappeared. I wonder if she's okay."

            Noriko crossed her arms. "Probably trying to get more people to fill her god-complex…"

            Hikari glanced in her direction, but said nothing.

            "What else happened today?" Jyou asked, "This is connected somehow…"

            "What about those earthquakes?" Hikari suggested, "Where were they…?"

            Jyou quickly entered the address for a newspaper website. An article had already been posted concerning the strange occurrences. "There was an earthquake in Shikoku, early signs of a possible volcanic eruption in Hokkaido, and a tidal wave in Kyushu…the government was quick to respond to the situation in Shikoku, and insist that an earthquake occurred, even though many witnesses claim to have seen what looked like a meteorite falling to Earth…"

            "A shooting star?" Piyomon asked.

            "Yeah," Jyou said, "Sounds like the government is covering something up…"

            "Are we sure?" Hikari asked, "How many earthquakes or volcanic eruptions does Japan have in one day? And plus, why would the government try to cover up a shooting star?"

            "What if it's not a shooting star?" Plotmon X suggested.

            "The Flail of Chance?" Sora asked.

            "Well," Jyou sighed, "It's the best we've got."

            Hikari nodded. "If Nefertimon flew us, we could be there in a few hours…"

            Jyou stared at her. "Aren't you worried about work tomorrow?"

            The younger woman stared back. "Jyou, tomorrow's Saturday."

            He nodded. "Right…forgot that teachers get weekends off…"

            She smiled slightly, "Well, not really '_off,"_ but…"

            Sora cleared her throat. "Um, Birdramon can fly faster then Nefertimon…"

            "But she's still weak from the fight," Plotmon X said, "No, it's better if I flew…"

            "But how are we all going to get there?" Piyomon asked.

            Hikari shook her head. "It's just going to be me and Jyou…"

            "What?" Noriko protested, "Come on…"

            "She's right," Jyou said, "You're still weak from the fight."

            "We're not going to tell Taichi or Yamato?" Noriko's Plotmon asked.

            "I sent them a message on their phones," Sora said, "They probably didn't get it."

            "Taichi's got a few classes at night," Hikari explained, "I don't want him to have to miss them, if he keeps missing classes, he's going to fail out…"

            Noriko nodded. "And I remember Yamato said he and his band was going to be recording a song tonight…" She turned to Hikari and Jyou, "So that's why you two can't go alone."

            Hikari hesitated. "All right…"

111

            Hikari had not even gone back to her apartment before leaving for Shikoku. When Taichi returned from his late class, he was slightly surprised to find the apartment empty…empty except for Agumon X.

            "Hey," Taichi said, "Where's Hikari?"

            The dinosaur shrugged. "I don't know, she hasn't been home all night."

            Taichi walked into his room to grab a set of clothes for after his shower, but his eyes glanced into his sister's room, excepting to see her partner curled up on her bed, but found nothing. "Hey, where's Plotmon?"

            "She left a little while ago," Agumon X replied, "I just figure she was going for a walk…but that was at least two hours ago!"

            Taichi thought for a moment. "I wonder if she went to Mitsuo's?"

            "But why would she bring Plotmon?" Agumon X asked.

            "Maybe she didn't," Taichi said.

            Agumon X raised his eyebrow. "Should we go look for her?"

            Taichi nodded. "You know where she usually hangs out, right?"

            "I think so."

            "Grab your disguise and let's move."

111

            More then a few hours later, Birdramon landed in the forests outside of Kochi under the safety of night. After she devolved to Piyomon and took her usual disguise as Sora's backpack, with Plotmon and Plotmon X pretending to be Hikari and Noriko's pet puppies, and Gomamon X a stuffed animal, the four Chosen entered the city.

            They walked through the streets, every now and then catching a glance from a passing citizen, but no one even noticed that they were from Tokyo, much less their digimon partners. They seemed more interested in Sora's crutches and missing leg then even Noriko's splotches of missing skin. "Do we even know where to start looking?" Noriko asked.

            "Why don't we just ask?" Sora suggested.

            Jyou nodded and glanced around. A group of teenage girls, still dressed in their school uniforms, walked past. "Excuse me…"

            They did not hear him, so he began to walk after them. As he stepped forward, he tripped over a raised section of the sidewalk and fell forward. His hand instinctively reached out for something, and he touched the rear of one of the girls as he continued forward. He smashed into the pavement and blood began to trickle from his nose. He jumped to his feet just as the girls were turning around. The girl in the back, the one that Jyou had accidentally grouped, stared at his discombobulated expression, the blood trickling down his face, and the sheepish grin. She screamed and hit him in the side of the head with her school bag.

            "Pervert!" she screamed, and the group ran away as fast as they could.

            "Oh man," he muttered, "Just great, now I'm a sex offender…"

            Hikari chuckled slightly as she pulled out a small handkerchief from her purse. A middle-aged man walked past and Noriko stopped him. "Excuse me, was there an earthquake here earlier?"

            "Earthquake?" he gasped, "You don't know?"

            "Um, we just came in from Tokyo, and were wondering if you knew anything about that earthquake that was supposed to happen earlier today."

            He narrowed his eyes. "Are you reporters?"

            "Uh…sure. We're, ah…Inquiring News. Can you tell me anything?"

            "Sure," he said, "That was no earthquake, it was something from outer space!"

            "A meteor?"

            "Yeah, it landed on the coastline, and the government came and surrounded the place. They kept saying it was just an earthquake, but no, it was a flying saucer or something. The United States keeps covering up all of their UFO crashes, so I'm sure the same thing happened here."

            "Uh…okay," Noriko said, "D…do you know where…?"

            He nodded. After quickly giving her directions, the Chosen began to travel to the coastline. They were only two miles from the location before they could see government agents standing guard. "There's no way we're going to get past that," Sora whispered.

            Gomamon X glanced up to the right and grinned. "Hey, I've got an idea…"

            A few moments later, Gomamon X, having evolved to his Adult form of Tylomon X, was now swimming beneath the ocean surface, with Jyou hanging on, holding his breath. They swam from a safe point further up the coast until they arrived at the section of beach being guarded by the government agents. Tylomon X floated up so that Jyou's head broke the surface, allowing him the chance to breathe once again. As he hid within the rolling waves and the dark night, he was able to spy on the beach with safety. He could not hear, but he was able to clearly see a massive crater embedded in the sand. There were more then a dozen agents scouring the beach, wearing hazmat suits, but without their helmets. There was a black truck sitting next to the path to the beach. He lightly tapped his partner's head, held his breath and dove into the water once more.

            The females were waiting for them when they surfaced further up the shoreline. Once they knew he was arriving, they all covered their eyes, as Jyou had gone in naked so his clothes were not be soaked. After air-drying himself for a few moments, he pulled on his garments. While this had occurred, he had been speaking.

            "Something definitely landed there," he said.

            "You don't really think it's a UFO, do you?" Hikari asked.

            He shrugged. "Well, not that I don't believe in aliens or anything, my guess is that it's the Flail of Chance."

            Sora nodded. "Which brings up another set of problems. Like, if that was a Holy Weapon, does that mean those other two are Holy Weapons too?"

            Plotmon X nodded. "And why is your government trying to cover it up?"

            "Maybe because they think it _is_ a UFO?" Noriko's Plotmon suggested.

            Jyou shook his head. "Anyway, I got a pretty good look at one of the trucks that was there, it was almost completely black. If there's another truck like that in the city…"

            "Then that's where the Flail could be?" Sora asked.

            Jyou nodded. "Yup, but I could be wrong too, so, I think that Hikari and me should go looking for the truck in the city, but just in case something else happens here, Sora and Noriko should stay."

            "What?" Noriko gasped, "Oh come on…!"

            Jyou sighed. "Just please…."

            She crossed her arms and glanced to the side. "Fine."

            Jyou mentioned over his shoulder. "All right, come on Hikari, Plotmon, let's go."

111

            By the time Taichi and Agumon X returned to the apartment, they had worried themselves sick. "Jeez," Agumon X said, "I sure hope she's okay…"

            "Man," Taichi sighed, "What am I gonna tell Hikari?"

            The small dinosaur blinked. "Wait, did you even call Hikari to see if Plotmon's with her?"

            "She wasn't answering her cellphone," Taichi said.

            Suddenly, their home phone began to ring. Chosen and digimon glanced at each other, before Taichi dove for the device. "Hello?"

            "Taichi? It's Yamato."

            "Hey…"

            "Um…did Sora say anything to you about Noriko going anywhere?"

            "Um…no…"

            Yamato sighed deeply. "Well, Noriko's not here, and neither is her Plotmon. I called Sora's apartment to see if she was there, but she wasn't."

            Taichi narrowed his eyes. "Hikari and her Plotmon aren't here either…"

            "Wait, you think they…went somewhere? Having to do with a digital….thing?"

            The bushy-haired young man growled. "Yeah, I do. I'm gonna kill Hikari! Making me worry! Damn it!"

            Yamato began to chuckle. "I bet that how she felt every time you and Agumon ran off to fight some evil digimon by yourselves."

            Taichi was silent for a moment. "Shut up," he muttered, "Still, when they get home, they're really gonna get it…"

111

            Hikari sneezed.

            "Bless you," Jyou said.

            "Thanks," she sniffled, "I hope I'm not catching a cold or anything…"

            They continued to walk through Kochi, glancing at the vehicles, trying to locate another truck that resembled the black one that Jyou saw on the beach. They had not found anything so far.

            Jyou sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn, this is getting us no where."

            Hikari was about to respond, when Plotmon X called to her. "Hey, it that what we're looking for?"

            Jyou glanced in the direction in which the small mammal was pointing. They had arrived in a section of the city that was comprised of mostly industrial buildings and factories and one warehouse…a warehouse in which a black truck was parked.

            "Cool," Gomamon X grinned.

            "Okay," Hikari nodded, "Now what?"

            Jyou paused. "I…I hadn't really thought that far ahead…"

            "Why don't we just go inside and get it?" Gomamon X asked.

            His partner frowned. "Because I don't feel like spending the rest of my life inside a government prison."

            "Maybe we should just warn them?" Hikari suggested.

            "How would they believe us? Besides, then we'd have to tell them how we know about it…"

            Hikari suddenly shivered. "Are you cold?" Plotmon X asked, "Maybe you are getting sick…"

            The young woman shook her head. "No, it's not that, it's…like when the Demon Lords appeared, or we entered GranDracmon's Dark Area…"

            "Her clairvoyance?" Jyou asked, "Something's here?"

            "Evil," she answered.

            They cautiously glanced around until they observed a figure darting in and out of the shadows on the street. Once it stepped into the street lights, they were able to see that it was an elderly man draped in a thick trench coat…an elderly man that they were able to recognize from Noriko and Sora's description.

            "The Fallen Chosen?" Jyou asked.

            The old man chuckled. "So you know of me, eh?" He glanced at Jyou, narrowing his eyes. "So, you have the power of Kendra of Water." He glanced over at Hikari, "And you have the power of Svetlana of Wind…." His eyes opened in shock, "And the power of Yuushi? But…how can that be? The one that holds the power of Fate is the one you call Priestess, so how…" A smile crossed his face, "Of course, she is your sister?"

            Hikari did not respond.

            "Cousin?" he asked. The young woman tried to hide her emotion, but the glint in her eyes betrayed her.

            "Ah, I see, she is your cousin, interesting. She is the Daughter of Fate, yet, you posses a severely limited version as well…"

            "Hey!" Plotmon X shouted, "Hikari's anything but weak! You should have seen her facing down Myotismon!"

            He chuckled. "Ah, so it was you he was searching for? Very interesting, he no doubt feared your limited powers, he had no idea that even greater power lay dormant in nine girls…and that Takenouchi brat was even right under his nose…"

            "Who are you?" Jyou asked.

            He continued to stare at him.

            "You heard him!" Hikari snapped, "Who are you?"

            He chuckled. "Yes, Granddaughter of Yuushi, Tatsuo Juro, at your service."

            "Sorry," Gomamon X chirped, "Never heard of ya."

            The Fallen Chosen frowned. "Yes, I supposed you haven't. For my name was erased from the history of the Digital World, only because my ideals were different then those of Dragon Warriors…those you call the First Chosen."

            "You fought the First Chosen, didn't you?" Jyou asked.

            "Yes, that was how it was remembered, but it was _they_ who first used open hostilities against _me._"

            "What?"

            Juro closed his eyes slightly. "Ah, yes…for you see, the First Chosen believed that a group of powerful beings created the Digital World, gave it form, substance and life. These elder gods brought the First Chosen to the Digital World. Yet, years later, I was brought to the Digital World, my destiny was similar to that of you, Lady Hikari, the one that should have been with them at the start, but was found later. When I had arrived they had already accomplished so much, and I felt like an outsider, a loner, why did they need me? I was nothing compared to them, and it seemed that they cared only for causing me humiliation." He stared at Hikari," Surely you must know of what I speak.."

Jyou glanced over at Hikari, who sighed slightly, "Yes, maybe I do…"

            "Would it have not been better to surrender to Myotismon? Why live in the shadow of the others? Especially your brother?"

            The young woman sighed for a moment, then shook her head. "I would never have done that! No matter how I felt, I wouldn't have given it to him!"

Juro chuckled, "Then you have greater strength then I, for I gave in to the darkness. I gave in, and was subsequently exiled from the First Chosen, my weapon hidden, and my name erased from history…"

            "Somehow I doubt that's the entire story," Jyou said.

            "Believe what you want," Juro replied, "But I knew that if I followed you Chosen long enough, you would lead me to my weapon."

            "We didn't have anything to do with it getting taken!" Hikari protested.

            "It does not matter now," Juro answered, "Move aside, and I will reclaim what was stolen from me long ago and then my vengeance shall begin!"

            Gomamon X snorted. "Yeah right, that place is probably packed full of guards, what are you gonna do, walk in through the front door and ask please?"

            Juro chuckled and reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a dark-colored Digitama. "Time to wake up!" he shouted, throwing the egg into the air. The egg began to glow brightly, evolving into the mechanical dinosaur.

            "Raptordramon?" Plotmon X gasped.

            "You heard of him?" Hikari asked.

            "Yeah, Myotismon talked about him, a extinct digimon, but Piyomon and Plotmon were wrong, _this_ Raptordramon is only an Adult."

            "Only an Adult?" Jyou gasped, "And he beat Ladydevimon and Garudamon?"

            "It doesn't matter," Gomamon X chuckled, "He hasn't seen us yet…"

            Jyou turned to Hikari, and they both nodded. They clutched their X-digivices as they began to glow.

            "Gomamon X evolve to Tylomon X!"

            "Plotmon X evolve to Tailmon X!"

            Juro grinned. "Raptordramon…"

            The cyborg digimon roared. "Ambush Crunch!"

111

            Inside the warehouse, the mysterious Flail of Chance was resting atop a wooden table, with a dozen agents standing guard. There was also another black truck within the large floor, and the lieutenant had been examining a thick folder of papers when she noticed an explosion of bright light through the window. She ran over as fast as she could and peered through the glass. Her eyes grew wide as she observed Tylomon X and Raptordramon battle.

            She twirled around and pointed to the Flail. "Digimon outside! We've got to get out of here at once!"

111

Raptordramon lunged forward, intending to use his teeth to rip off Tylomon X's head, but the Deep Saver twisted out of the way, and Raptordramon shot right over his head. Tylomon whipped his tail around and managed to whack the cyborg in the rear. Raptordramon twisted his head around and managed to slam his powerful jaws into Tylomon X's fin.

            "Hang on!" Tailmon X exclaimed, charging forward on all fours. She jumped into the air by executing a series of black flips. Once she was high enough, she landed atop Raptrodramon's back. She raised both of her fists and swung them into the cyborg's back, forcing him to release Tylomon X. Once the Deep Saver was free, he twisted in a tight circle, his tail knocking into Raptordramon's neck. Tailmon X leapt from his back and gracefully landed on the ground.

            The Holy Beast gently licked her paw. "I think you've underestimated us."

            Raptordramon growled, "I'll show you!"

            The cyborg digimon roared and began to flap his wings in raged furor. He narrowed his eyes at Tylomon X and charged forward. The Deep Saver used his feet to leap into the air. Once he was high enough he called out, "Torpedo Attack!"

            He shot forward and rammed his pointed nose into the dragon's side with even more power then Raptrodramon's Ambush Crunch. Tylomon X wiggled free, then twisted around, smacking his tail into the dragon's already injured side.

            "Damn you!" Raptordramon roared, "I'll kill you all!"

The cyborg shot forward once more, his teeth gleaming. Tailmon X leapt up from the ground. She pulled her fist back and began to pound his head. "Cat Punch!"

            Raptordramon suddenly stopped short, and the Holy Beast was flung from his back. She twisted in the air and used a lamp post to rebound, slamming her fist in to the cyborg's head with all of her might. He began to wobble in flight before crashing into the ground.

            "Take that!" Tailmon X chuckled, "Really think you're so tough now!"

            "Tailmon!" Hikari scolded.

            Juro growled. "If taunting is your way of winning you're sadly mistaken! Raptor…"

            He was abruptly cut off as the metal door of the warehouse quickly shot open. The small group watched as another black truck shot out of the opening and quickly disappeared down the road.

            Juro turned to Hikari and Jyou and grinned. "Well, it looks like I'll have to be going. Raptordramon!"

            The cyborg digimon hovered down low enough so that Juro could leap onto his back before flying into the distance.

            "Hey!" Tylomon X shouted, "Come back here!"

            Hikari twirled to face her partner. "Tailmon, we've got to…"

            She nodded. "You got it. Tailmon X evolve to Nefertimon X!"

            Hikari leapt onto her newly-evolved partner. She looked at Jyou and Tylomon X. "Hurry!"

            Tylomon X regressed to Gomamon X and they leapt onto the Holy Beast. They flew after Juro and Raptordramon as quickly as they could, but the time it had taken for Tylomon X to devolve proved to be too long, for despite an hour of searching, they could not find their prey.

111

            By the time Hikari and Jyou had returned to Sora and Noriko it had already been two hours, and after Birdramon flew them back to Tokyo, it was another two hours. It was well into the morning hours by the time they stood before the door to Sora's apartment. "Man, I'm beat," Gomamon X yawned.

            "You're tired?" Piyomon asked, "You're not the one that flew all the way here!"

            "Easy, easy," Sora said, "We're all cranky right now, let's just go inside and rest."

            "Are you sure you don't mind us sleeping here?" Hikari asked.

            The redhead nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I don't think you'd want to face your brother right now anyway, right?"

            "Or Yamato," Noriko muttered.

            Sora chuckled as she inserted her key into the lock. Her face suddenly became pale. "What's wrong?" Piyomon asked.

            "Did I lock this before we left?"

            "I'm pretty sure you did, why?"

            "It's not locked."

            A small hush fell over the group. "Well, what have we got to worry about?" Jyou asked, "Our digimon can handle anything…"

            They nodded slowly. "I probably just left it unlocked," Sora said.

            Jyou slowly turned the knob and opened the door. He was greeted by a hand grabbing his shirt collar and yanking him inside. The girls quickly followed, with Piyomon leaping up to switch on the lights. They were now able to see that the mysterious intruder, the one that had grabbed Jyou, was Taichi. Yamato, Agumon X and Gabumon X were standing in Sora's living room.

            "Taichi!" Sora and Hikari gasped.

            He released Jyou, who was none the worse for wear. The bushy-haired young man stared at the young women. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he shouted.

            They all had confused expressions on their faces. "What?" Noriko asked.

            "You had us worried half the night!" he screamed, "We didn't know what the hell happened to you! You all just disappeared!"

            "Taichi," Sora said, "We went to look for…"

            "Some kind of digital threat?" he asked, "Why the hell did you go by yourselves? What if you were all hurt or worse? We wouldn't have had any idea!" He turned to his sister, "And you especially,  me and Agumon looked across half the city to find Plotmon!"

            "What?" she asked.

            "We thought you were at your boyfriends, so when I came home and Plotmon wasn't there, I thought something happened to her!"

            His sister twisted her head away in shame. "I…I'm sorry I made you worry…"

            "What were you thinking?"

            "Taichi, ease up," Jyou said, "They were worried about you missing your class. They want you to succeed, and they didn't want anything to come between that."

            "Me too," Noriko said, eying Yamato standing behind Taichi, "I…I didn't want you to risk losing your first album deal…"

            The blond man continued to stare with anger.

            Taichi took a deep breath. "My…graduating from the university won't mean anything to me if I loose you."

            "That goes for me too," Yamato said, "What's the point of being famous if there's no one to share it with?"

            "All right," Taichi said, finally calming down, "Now, what's going on?"

111

            The young woman known as Megumi Seisou opened the door to the hotel room and gently dropped her bag onto the bed. A moment later, her Plotmon poked her head out of the top. She yawned as she crawled onto the bed. "We're here?"

            Megumi nodded. "Yes, we have arrived."

            "Why did we have to come all the way back to Japan for anyway?" she asked again.

            Megumi reached inside her bag and removed a gold staff with a star-shaped medallion attached to the end. "The Staff of Yuushi has called to me, a mystic, yet digital, force is at work in this world. The emerging energies proved to be too sudden for me to handle, and my spirit was overwhelmed. I can only surmise that Lord Taichi and Lord Yamato felt it as well."

            "But…what is it?"

            She shook her head. "I do not know, but I feel the source to be here, in Japan."

            She continued to pull items out of her bag, a sleeveless pink and white dress, a light orange cape, a pair of light pink boots. "I had strived to bury this persona, to atone for past deeds, but I can no more do that then cease the sun from rising…for she is part of me…"

            She removed her pants, pulled her sweater over her head, and unclasped her bra. She slowly pulled on the dress, her breasts resting within the front. She slipped into her boots, before swirling her cape around her. She held up her staff, "It is time for Chihi Miayag, Priestess of the Chosen, to walk this world once more!"

111

            Jyou stared at the lines of text on his computer monitor. He blinked for a moment, then rubbed his eyes. "This is ridiculous, we have no idea where the hell that thing could be…"

            "No luck then?" Hikari asked, walking inside with a coffee mug.

            "None," he sighed, leaning back in his chair, "I mean, if the government…even though we really don't know if it _is_ the government, took the Flail of Chance…even though we don't know if it _is_ the Flail of Chance, which they think it's a UFO…even though that's only _our_ opinion…"

            The young woman sighed slightly. "Jyou…you're rambling…"

            He shook his head. "Um…if the government took this, I'm sure they're going to keep it somewhere secret. Nothing in any news reports say _anything_ about it. I'm not going to find anything like this."

            Hikari placed the mug down on the table. "Come on, Jyou, don't give up, we just need to keep going."

            He sighed deeply. "You're right, thanks." He smiled slightly, "But it's your turn now."

            He stood up and mentioned to the computer screen. A list of text citations was being displayed. "The blue ones are ones I've read already."

            The younger Yagami sat down in the office chair. She used the mouse to click on the citation, and the full text of an article written in a local newspaper appeared on screen. She began to read aloud; it had become a habit since she often read aloud to her students.

            "The seismic activity that registered on Shikoku earlier yesterday is being called an earthquake by the government. There is evidence to suggest, however, that a mysterious object fell from the sky and crashed to Earth. Government agents quickly responded and many fear that the object was taken back to Tokyo. Black trucks and vans seen on the island have been reported to be seen in the Tokyo area as well, most notably around the Shinjuku Area…"

            Jyou frowned. "Figures."

            Hikari reached for her cell phone. "I'm calling Taichi."

111

            Deep within the maze of city street, Taichi was walking down sidewalk after sidewalk; Agumon X was at his side, disguised in his trench coat. Taichi was wearing a trench coat as well, because the Katana of Hidokoro was resting against his leg, hidden from view. Sora was there as well, using her crutches, and Piyomon was in her usual disguise as the redhead's backpack. Across the city, Yamato and Gabumon X were scouring the streets as well, the Shotgun of Lucien was hidden beneath his clothes. Noriko and Plotmon were with them as well. It was their hope that since they had apparently felt the Flail of Chance enter the Earth, if they were close enough to it, they would somehow feel its presences. So far, however, they were not experiencing any luck.

            Taichi sighed. "This is hopeless."

            "What are you talking about?" Agumon X asked.

            "This is a fucking wild goose chase! We've been all over this damn city, and we've got nothing to show for it except for fucking exhaustion!"

            Sora sighed. "Well, what are we going to do? We need to find that weapon before that Fallen Chosen guy does."

            "But it could be anywhere! And how the fuck do we even know its _in_ Tokyo? I could be anywhere in Japan!"

            Agumon X was about to respond, when Taichi's phone began to ring. He grabbed the device from his pocket and placed it against his ear. "Hello? Hikari, what's…oh cool. Yeah. Thanks."

            The others stared at him questioningly. "Well?" Agumon X asked.

            "Hikari said she found something in the newspapers. Those black vans and trucks were seen in Shinjuku."

            "Really?"

            "Well, it's the best we've got. Come on."

            The duo trekked to the area of Tokyo known as Shinjuku. They began at one end and traveled across, using every street and sidewalk to arrive at the other side. Taichi was excepting nothing to come of this, but he was genuinely surprised when, as they approached a simple storage facility, his head began to radiate with an odd sensation.

            He held his forehead, "I…I think maybe we've got something…"

            The small dinosaur stared at the building. It was a tall structure, with a metal garage-door like device, and opaque windows.  "It looks like a regular warehouse to me."

            He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "No, there's something about it. Let's get Yamato over here, and see if the same thing happens to him."

            After Hikari had called Taichi, she had alerted Yamato, so he was already on his way when Taichi called him. He arrived with Noriko and Plotmon, and when the blond-haired young man approached the building in question, he, too, felt a sharp pain in the base of his head that quickly spread to his eyes. He was forced to drop to his knees.

            "Yamato!" Gabumon X exclaimed.

            Noriko placed a hand on his back as Taichi stared at him. "Same thing, huh?"

            The blond man nodded as he stood again. "Wow, that was fucking weird…" He took a deep breath, "It's in there all right…"

            Agumon X crossed his arms. "All right, now what?"

            "Should we call the others?" Noriko asked.

            "What for?" Taichi asked, "If that's a government building, we can't just go walking inside."

            "What are we going to do, then?" Sora asked.

            Taichi frowned. "We need to think this through."

            "Maybe we should just tell them who we are," Piyomon suggested.

            "That's not a good idea," Noriko said, "I don't want to end up in a freaking government, and I don't want _you_ to end up being dissected."

            "Damn it!" Taichi shouted, "This is getting us nowhere!"

            "Perhaps I can be of some assistance…"

            The four females felt their spines turn to ice. The quickly spun around, followed by the four males. An elderly man was standing a few feet away. Taichi whispered. "Is that…?"

            Sora nodded. "Yeah, that's him."

            He nodded. "You guys stay here, we'll deal with this."

"Are you sure?"

He grinned his trademark grin. "Don't worry, we'll take care of it."

Taichi and Yamato stepped forward, and the Fallen Chosen stared at them. He glanced at Yamato, "The Heir of Lucien, the holder of the Shotguns of Light, you hold his power…as well as the power of Daiyu of Darkness."

            He turned to Taichi and grinned. "The grandson of Yuushi, all the prestige and legacy, yet none of the power. Instead, you hold the Katana of Fire, Hidokoro's power, as well as Monteneg of Earth. Quite an impressive set of might. I must thank you for leading me to the location of my weapon, I knew that you would feel your own weapons resonating with the Flail of Chance."

            "All right," Taichi said, "I want to know who the fuck you think you are, not only screwing around with my girlfriend and Yamato's girlfriend, but fucking up my sister!"

            He smirked. "Sorry you feel so angry, Lord Taichi, but the First Chosen sealed my power away for so long, and any compassion I have is long gone." His smirk faded and was replaced by a snarl of rage, "I want my power, I want my weapon!"

            "And then what?" Yamato asked.

            "I will finish what I began so long ago…"

            "And what's that?" Taichi asked.

            "Sorry, Lord Taichi, but not even Yuushi's grandson will force that from me…but, I suppose if you and Lord Yamato want to find out…you'll just have to stop me…" He reached inside his pocket and emerged with his Digitama.

            Agumon X snorted. "That's your partner? You're joking, right? You think a freaking egg is gonna scare us?"

            Juro grinned. "Oh, yes, I'm sorry, I am at a slight disadvantage, aren't I? Allow me to rectify that mistake." He raised his hand into the air and stared forward at the warehouse. "Flail of Chance, hear the voice of your master, come to my hand!"

            The Chosen blinked in surprise, but they quickly realized what was occurring. They glanced over their shoulders at the warehouse and held their breath. Fascinatingly, the opaque windows suddenly exploded as the mysterious Flail of Chance erupted forth, flying over their heads before landing in Tatsuo Juro's hand.

            "Yes!" he cheered, "The Flail of Chance is mine again! I am whole once more!"

            Taichi and Yamato stared with wide-eyes and horrified expressions. Juro appeared confused, then smiled slightly. "I see...you didn't know about that simple ability, did you?"

            Taichi and Yamato quickly whipped out their weapons and Juro only laughed. "If you have no idea about the powers of your weapons, then you have already lost."

            Yamato blinked and he stared down at the Shotguns of Lucien. "What…powers?"

            "Don't listen to anything he says," Taichi growled, "He's just trying to psyche us out."

            "Believe what you want," he responded, "But with my weapon returned to me, I will have my vengeance!"

            He threw the Digitama into the air with his left hand, and used his right hand to swing the ball and chain once around his head. The Digitama glowed in a silver light, then exploded to reveal the newly-evolved digimon, but this digimon was not the previously seen Raptordramon, but a green-scaled crocodile-like creature with a metal jaw and what appeared to be a metal plunger attached to its tail by a metal chain.

            "That's not Raptordramon!" Noriko's Plotmon exclaimed.

            "You're right," Piyomon gasped, "That's…."

            "Metal Piranhmon!" Agumon X and Gabumon X shouted in horrified unison.

            "I take it that's bad, huh?" Yamato questioned.

            Juro was about to speak, but stopped when he noticed a small group of agents rush from the warehouse, led by the purple-haired lieutenant. She froze when she saw Metal Piranhmon. "Shit, digimon! Back inside, now!"

            "Cowards," Juro chuckled as they charged back into the warehouse, "Without their fancy weapons, they can't stand up to our might. Now, where were we…"

            Taichi and Yamato both nodded at their partners. Agumon X was then drawn to Taichi and Gabumon X was drawn to Yamato. Human and digimon became lost in the maelstrom of light and energy.

            "Agumon X warp evolve to Wargreymon X!"

            "Gabumon X warp evolve to Metalgarurumon X!"

            Juro raised his eyebrow. "A human/digimon hybrid?...No…I can still sense Yagami and Ishida, as well as their partners. They have merged together, not even all-powerful Yuushi was able to accomplish such a feet…"

            Wargreymon X smirked. "So, we're not as pathetic as you thought, huh?"

            The Fallen Chosen chuckled. "That has yet to be determined. Metal Piranhmon, attack!"

            The Deep Saver charged forward, his metal jaw snapping in the air. "3D Laser!" he shouted, firing a massive laser blast from deep inside his throat. Wargreymon X flung his shield around and blocked the attack, distracting Metal Piranhmon so that Metalgarurumon X could whip around and fire from the wrist-based Shotgun of Lucien. A barrage of bullets tore across his back. The Deep Saver flung his tail around, and the drain-plug smashed into his head. Wargreymon X shot forward and slashed at Metal Piranhmon's underside. He flipped in the air and shot to safety.

            "Are you injured?" Juro asked.

            "Only slightly," his partner responded, "They're tougher then we thought…"

            "Looks like someone's ready to admit defeat?" Wargreymon X asked.

            On the sidelines, Sora sighed and shook her head. "He's getting so full of himself again! He was like this when we were kids!"

            "Don't worry," Piyomon said, "He's still Taichi, but he's changed a lot, he's not gonna do anything stupid…I hope…"

            Above them, Wargreymon X and Metalgarurumon X flexed their muscles as Metal Piranhmon snapped his jaws. The Deep Saver shot forward, swimming through the air. Metalgarurumon X fired from his missile chambers, heading for the Deep Saver. "Garuru Burst!"

            Juro chuckled and swung the chained-ball over his head in one circle. All of Metalgarurumon X's missiles spun out of control and smashed into Wargreymon X's back. "What the fuck?" the metal wolf gasped. He shot to his friend's aid, catching him before he would have crashed into the ground.

            "I don't understand!" he gasped, helping Wargreymon X to hover in the air once more, "It was like they all just went out of control."

            "Yes, exactly," Juro responded, "For such is the nature of chance."

            "You can control chance?" Noriko shouted.

            "Yes, through my weapon, I am able to alter probability. Had your two warriors known the true extent of their weapons, they might have been able to counter it, but novices as they are, they will fail."

            "You're delusional!" she shouted back, "No one's stronger then Metalgarurumon X or Wargreymon X! They beat GranDracmon, they tore him apart!"

            "We shall see," he chuckled.

            Wargreymon X clenched his fists as he shot forward, his bladed-gauntlets poised for attack. Metal Piranhmon flipped his body around, and the chain-bound plunger bashed into Wargreymon X's side. The dinosaur twisted around, avoiding the attack. He grabbed the chain and smashed the piranha into the pavement. He shot after him, and used the Katana of Hidokoro on his right gauntlet to pierce the Deep Saver's left side.

            "Yes!" Sora and Piyomon cheered.

            Hovering above Wargreymon X, Metalgarurumon X pointed the Shotgun of Lucien, which was attached to his own forearm. He began to fire a round of bullets, aiming for Metal Piranhmon's injured side. Juro smirked slightly and swung his weapon again. The metal wolf's attack suddenly twisted, passing around the injured Deep Saver and impacted into a power pole behind them. The base was destroyed and it began to fall forward, heading straight for the Fallen Chosen. Juro leapt out of the way and the pole smashed into the ground. "Damn it."

            Noriko took note of this, but said nothing.

            The three Mega digimon leapt back into the air, ready to continue their battle. Metal Piranhmon panted heavily, due to his injured side, but Wargreymon X and Metalgarurumon X were not injured in the slightest.

            "This was a lot easier then I thought," the metallic wolf said.

            "Yeah, I know," the dinosaur warrior responded, "I guess after fifty years, even digimon get old." He cracked his neck, "Let's finish this…"

            Down below, Juro gripped his Flail of Chance tightly. "This will end badly, I must do something." He stared up at the sky and watched as Wargreymon X and Metalgarurumon X flew forward to finish this battle. The Fallen Chosen took a deep breath, summed up all the power he could muster, and swung the chained ball once more. He put all his hope and power into this swung, and he hoped it would be enough.

            Wargreymon X noticed Juro swinging his Flail of Chance, and he knew that something would soon happen, but even he could not imagine the horror that would occur. As soon as the Fallen Chosen flung his flail, the dinosaur warrior felt a sharp pain in his chest. He twisted his head and saw that the same thing had occurred to Metalgarurumon X. Both Mega digimon slowed their momentum as the feeling completely overtook them in a burst of white light. When this glow faded, Wargreymon X and Metalgarurumon X had reverted to their pervious forms: Taichi and Agumon X and Yamato and Gabumon X.

            "He changed them back!" Noriko's Plotmon shouted.

            "No…" Noriko said, "No!"

            The two X-Chosen and the two X-digimon began to fall towards the ground, but Metal Piranhmon operated his chain-attached drain plug with conscious effort and wrapped the four tightly within his chain. They struggled to free themselves.

            "Let us out right now!" Taichi demanded, "Or you'll be sorry!"

            "I think not," Juro replied. He turned slightly to Sora and Noriko, "And don't even think of evolving your partners, there's no way they could win, first of all, and they might accidentally hit your lovers here."

            Plotmon and Piyomon growled as they stared in useless horror.

            "Now," the Fallen Chosen said, turning back to his four prisoners, "We have defeated not only the two strongest X-Chosen, but also the leaders of the Chosen as the grandson of Yuushi as well."

            Taichi only stared as he struggled to free himself.

            "Do you now understand the futility of your efforts? You may have defeated GranDracmon, yes, but his power was not the same as ours and without any mastery of your weapons, you were doomed before you ever began. You have failed, you have been defeated. There will be no capture, there will be no prisoners, there will be no mercy." He grinned slightly, "Farewell…"

            The Chosen and their partners held their breaths as Metal Piranhmon opened his mouth, and a hideous glow began to form. "3D Laser!" The light suddenly exploded, completely enveloping Taichi, Yamato, Agumon X and Gabumon X; once the light faded, there was not a trace of them.

            The Daughter of Fire and the Daughter of Darkness could not speak…but only for the shortest of moments, before their shock overtook them, and they each screamed out.

            Sora began to pound her fists into the concrete of the sidewalk. "Taichi….Taichi!" She turned her head to the sky and screamed as loud as she could, "Come back, Taichi! Come back….Taichi!"

            Noriko stared at Juro, her eyes full of such rage that even the Fallen Chosen was momentarily stunned. "You fucking bastard! I'll make you pay for this! I'll tear you limb from limb!"

            Juro chuckled. "There is nothing you can do, Lord Taichi and Lord Yamato were truly the strongest among you, and they failed before my might." He glanced to the sky as Metal Piranhmon reverted to his Digitama. Juro held out his hand and the egg fell into his arms.

            "But for now, I shall leave you with your grief, but now this, I shall return to finish what I have started, farewell for now."

            The two Daughters and their partners did not even care that he simply vanished into the afternoon. They could only think of those that had perished…those they cared for so strongly and with their entire being. Despite their grief, they knew they had to flee before the government agents gained enough courage to leave the safety of the warehouse, and when they did emerge from the building, Sora, Noriko, and their partners had long since vacated.

111

Since Jyou and Hikari had not yet heard back from anyone, they continued to search through the day's newspaper articles, hoping to discover any information they could, when the brown-haired young woman suddenly gasped loudly. She clutched her heart and stared out the window at the setting sun. "What is it?" Plotmon X asked.

She did not respond, only continued to stare forward. Her voice began to quiver. "O…Oniichan, h…have you left me too?"

Jyou blinked. "Hikari?"

The younger woman fell into his arms, sobbing loudly. 

The battle site where Taichi, Yamato and their partners had meet their deaths had quickly become quarantined, an entire city block sealed off from the world. Following that battle, the government agents stationed within the warehouse only had time to seal the section off with standard yellow tape. They did not even examine any physical evidence for fear of contaminating the site, and to avoid the risk, they simply stayed outside the barrier, defending it from any prying eyes. Had they been inside the tape, however, they would have seen a group of eggs suddenly form in the alley between the warehouse, and the abandoned apartment building adjacent to it. These eggs had formed when mysterious particles began to collect together, and they remained un-touched.

Now, as the sun began to set, one egg, an egg covered with a dull, tainted gold, slowly began to crack, and a very human hand began to reach towards the sky…

….._Not the end…._


	3. Dissociation of the Soul: Chapter 1

_My name is Hikari Yagami, and it is with a heavy heart that I must say this, my oniichan, has been killed. He and Yamato, they…they were killed, by the Fallen Chosen Tatsuo Juro. That monster killed them, he killed them mercilessly. I've lost so many friends, Takeru, Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, Ken…and now Taichi. Now I'm alone…now I'm all alone…_

_Digimon Gog_

_Dissociation of the Soul_

_Chapter 1_

The day was beautiful, the sky was a prefect blue, the sun was shining brightly, casting its rays down on the church below. Clouds were absent, birds were chirping, the trees were a multitude of green. It was a beautiful day.

It was a beautiful day, despite the event occurring within the cemetery. The Chosen, along with their families and partners, were standing before the elegantly designed headstones. Their bodies may have been deleted, but the families and friends of Taichi and Yamato still wanted a place where they felt the spirits of the two fallen could rest in peace.

Noriko was speaking to Yamato's parents, while Sora and Hikari had been speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Yagami. The middle-aged woman had finally awoken from her coma, but the news that her son had died was too much for her to bear. She suffered another breakdown, and was now standing by her husband's side, staring blankly into the distance.

Hikari turned to the redheaded woman. "Sora…I…I just want you to know how sorry I am…."

She blinked. "_You're_ sorry? But Hikari, he was your brother…"

The younger woman sniffled, "Yeah, but he really…lo….loved…." She could not even finish, as the sight of Sora's tears was too much for her

111

            Sora sat at her artists' easel, staring down at the blank page. The money from her latest design had almost run out, she had to sell more creations, but her heart simply was not there any longer. She was certain that her inspiration would return to her, but now..? Now, her heart was crowded with the image of a bushy-haired young man.  She collapsed onto her easel, "Taichi…Why did you leave? Why?"

            She continued to cry, she had cried for days now, since watching her beloved deleted right before her eyes. The memory of that day stung her heart to the point of shattering the fragile center of her soul. She wanted to end the pain, she wanted to join Taichi with so much desire that it threatened to drive her mad. However, she knew that was not what Taichi would have wanted, he would have wanted her to live, but what was the point of living, if your soul was shattered?

111

            Hikari sniffled as she stared into her older brother's room, which was still as messy as the last day he used it. She could not bare herself to change even an iota of the room, it would mean that he would never return. She knew that he was gone, but in her heart, she hoped beyond hope that he would miraculously come walking through the door once again.

            "Hikari?"

            She turned to face her partner. "Plotmon, it's so quiet…I thought it was lonely without Maria, but without Taichi…"

            The Mammal digimon sniffled as well. "Why don't we move? Maybe Sora wants a roommate?"

            "I…I don't know if that would be such a good idea," she smiled slightly, "We'd probably just end up making each other so sad, plus, I think Noriko might be moving in with her."

            "Oh…well, how about Mitsuo?"

            The young woman sighed. "I don't know, he seems reluctant to move in together, and I don't want to pressure him…"

111

            Taichi, Yamato, Agumon X and Gabumon X, had met their fate at the hands of the Fallen Chosen five days ago, and there were two beings that had witnessed the battle, but had come too late to give any aid, Chihi Miayag and her Plotmon partner…

            While Wargreymon X and Metalgarurumon X battled against Metal Piranhmon, Miayag and Plotmon stood atop the roof of an adjacent building, watching with heated interest. As Metal Piranhmon swung his tail around, smacking the dinosaur warrior in the head. Metalgarurumon X shot around from behind, but Metal Piranhmon's metal teeth tore into his leg.

            Plotmon turned to her partner. "Aren't we going to help them?"

            Miayag shook her head. "This is their fight; I shall not intrude in a battle of honor."

            Plotmon grumbled as she glanced back to the battle. Metal Piranhmon had used his chained-drain-plug tail to bind Wargreymon X and Metalgarurumon X in a constrictive circle. They struggled to free themselves, but the grip was like an indestructible iron vice. The small mammal twisted to her right. "What about now? They're in trouble!"

            The Priestess nodded. "Yes, come, we must evolve quickly!" She reached for her digivice, which was attached to a garter around her left leg, but slowed to a horrified stop as she watched Metal Piranhmon open his mouth and expunge a massive laser blast, incinerating both X-digimon. The Priestess stared for what seemed to be ages before she was able to speak, "_Juukeitei?_ N…no…"

            She collapsed to the ground, simply staring up at the sky. "Megumi?" Plotmon asked, placing a paw on her partner's back, "Megumi?"

            The Priestess did not respond, so Plotmon curled up beside her, adding what simple comfort she could. During the funeral, the Priestess kept her distance, she wanted to go to Hikari and Sora, comfort them, embrace them, but she could not. She had wandered the city for the past two days, searching for the Fallen Chosen. She could not locate him by simple luck, so she and Plotmon returned to the site of Taichi, Yamato and their partners' deaths. However, as they approached, they were surprised to find that the block had been separated, sectioned off from the rest of the city. As they observed from a distance, they noticed black trucks were parked on the street. They secretly climbed the building side and arrived on the roof of the same building from which they had observed the fateful battle. They cautiously peered over the edge, and watched a group of men and women dressed in hazmat suits, examining what appeared to be giant Digitamas, twelve, in fact.

            "What's going on down there?" Plotmon asked.

            "Quiet," her partner ordered, "Be silent, so that we may understand what is occurring."

            The mammal digimon closed her mouth and glanced over the edge of the building roof. Below, the purple-headed lieutenant stood alongside a middle-aged man with thinning hair draped in a white lab coat. He held a laptop with the screen turned so that he could use a stylus to write notes onto the monitor. Miayag's eyes turned to the entrance of the alley, where she observed a blond man dressed oddly out of place, in a simple business suit. He also wore a pair of dark sunglasses. "What's there to report?"

            The purple-haired woman spun around. "Commander, we have a major digital event here, definitely class yellow, possibly even class red."

            He sighed and pulled a cigarette lighter from his pocket. The lieutenant raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were going to quit."

            "Trying…" he muttered, "What's there to report?"

            She mentioned to the man in the lab coat. "Dr. Kurata should explain."

            The middle-aged man adjusted his glasses as he recited from his notes. "Well, these Digi-tamas are certainly larger then normal. My early assumptions was that these eggs could possibly contain digimon of a higher form, Adult or even possibly Fully Evolved, as opposed to the Fresh Baby form that normally is…'hatched."

            "And now?"

            "Well, the readings inside are…confusing. They contain data that are digital…"

            "That's what's normally found, right?" the blond man asked, "So what's so confusing?"

            "Half of the signal is digital, the other half gives off a signal that is of a lesser strength…a signal that is commonly associated with Chosen."

            The eyes of the blond man opened with shock. "What exactly are you saying?"

            "Well…given the events that took place here only a few days ago, my assumption would be that these Digitamas somehow contain not only Agumon X and Gabumon X, but their human partners as well, Taichi Yagami and Yamato Ishida."

            Miayag's eyes shot open in shock. Plotmon turned to her. "What do they mean? Lord Taichi and Lord Yamato…?"

            "Quiet!" she ordered.

            Down below, the blond man turned around and began to click his cigarette lighter at a rapid rate. "I picked the wrong week to quite smoking. Lt. Ootori."

            "Sir?" the woman asked.

            "Get those eggs out of here as fast as possible!"

            "But, aren't you going to tell…"

            "I can't deal with that right now. Get them back to base, now!"

            She nodded and rushed to the group in hazmat suits. Kurata began to chase after the blond man. "Commander, Commander Yamaki!"

            "What is it?"

            "I would like to study those eggs…."

            "I'm sure you would."

            "Sir, with Yagami, Ishida, and their two partners, that only makes four, where did the other fourteen eggs come from? We need to figure that out, and maybe I can even revive them."

            Yamaki slowed to a stop, then sighed deeply. "All right. The Digitamas will be transferred to you, but I want status reports every day, and if you leave anything out, so help me, I'll blow your head off myself!"

            Kurata cleared his throat. "Um, yes…"

            Yamaki stopped and glanced to the ground. "For her, I'll do this."

            "Megumi!" Plotmon hissed.

            "We are to do nothing as yet," she said, "I do not know these people, nor their capabilities. They may be Chosen, or possess weapons that we do not understand. We will repay our misdeeds against the X-Chosen, but I will not rush headlong into uncertain death, understand?"

            The Mammal digimon nodded. "Yeah, but…?"

            "We will wait, and watch," she replied, "And then, we will strike."

111

            Noriko had decided to remain in Yamato's apartment, but since she had no form of income what-so-ever, she was forced to get a job. Without any skills, she found employment at a local burger restaurant. She thought it would not be so difficult, since she was able to cook, if only slightly. Yet, they placed her on register, with which she was _not_ happy…nor was she happy with the waitress uniform she was forced to wear, a pink dress with a really short skirt and a white, frilly hat. She was certain that Mimi or Hikari would enjoy this outfit more, but she absolutely hated it. The skirt did not bother her so much, it was the bright cheerful pink, certainly not the attitude of the Daughter of Darkness. As she adjusted the hem for the hundredth time, and the hat for the thousandth, a middle-aged woman stepped up to the register, a receipt in her hand, and an angry expression on her face.

            "Excuse me! Miss, excuse me!"

            Noriko sighed and rolled her eyes. "Great." She forced herself to smile. "Yes, can I help you?"

            The woman shoved the receipt into her face and pointed towards a teenage girl at the other register. "I gave that girl an order for this hamburger hours ago! How long does it take to cook a hamburger?"

            Noriko felt her temper began to rise, but she managed to keep it in check. She took the receipt and checked the time that was printed, "Ma'am, this receipt says you only order this burger five minutes ago…"

            "And it takes five minutes to get a hamburger?"

            "It has to cook…"

            "For five minutes?"

            Noriko stared at the woman with narrowed eyes. Her temper had overtaken her, "Ma'am, it has to cook!"

"But…"

"It has to cook! I can give you a raw hamburger if you want, but then you have to sign a waver so you don't sue us when you get dysentery."

            The woman began to gasp. "I…I…I want to speak your manager!"

            She shrugged. "Sure, go ahead, what do I care?"

            Her face started to get flustered with anger. The teenage girl walked over a moment later and handed the woman a white paper bag. "Here's your order ma'am."

            The woman stuttered for a response, but she snatched her food and marched out the door. The teenage girl gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks, I can't handle those insane customers."

            Noriko gave a slight smile. "No problem, I can't stand people like that."

111

            Miayag and her Plotmon allowed the government agents to take the Digitamas, simply because the Priestess wanted to discover more about the mysterious Yamaki and Kurata. They placed the Digitamas into the black trucks, and even though Plotmon, evolved to her Adult form of Witchmon, flew after the trucks as fast as she could, she soon lost them. It was another three days before they were able to spot another truck, which led them to a tall building with two strange towers. As the two females hid within the normal crowd of citizens marching through the sidewalk, they stared up to the top of the massive structure.

            "Well," the Plotmon asked, "Now what?"

            "Now, we must find our way inside."

            "How?"

            She lightly began to rub her chin. "There must be a way…" She saw a white-painted truck traveling down the street. "A repair truck?" She began to grin, "Quick, follow me!"

            They ran across the street at arrived at the large metal door for the underground car garage just as the white truck arrived. While the driver entered his special identification card into the slot on the box, the two females crawled beneath and grabbed hold of the underside of the vehicle. As the truck began to move forward, the Priestess prayed to herself that she had not mad a terrible mistake, but when the truck came to a stop in a parking spot, she breathed a sigh of relief. She and Plotmon remained perfectly still and silent as the two repair men climbed out of the can and opened the rear doors. They removed their supplies and soon their chatting voices could no longer be heard. Miayag and Plotmon crawled from beneath the truck and climbed to their feet. The garage was almost completely empty.

            "What's going on?" Plotmon asked, "Where is everyone?"

            "It is still early," Miayag responded, "They are government workers, they probably don't even have to come in until mid-morning."

            "All right," the Mammal said, "We're in, but now what?"

            Miayag was glancing into the large windows of the rear doors. She pulled on the handle, only to discover that it was locked. "Quick, evolve."

            Plotmon did as she was told and changed to Witchmon. The Adult digimon positioned her broom behind the door handle and pulled with all of her might. The left door popped open. With her task completed, she regressed back to her smaller Plotmon form.

            Miayag jumped into the back, only to return a moment later with a technicians' jumpsuit uniform. After removing her cape and adjusting the skirt portion of her dress, she pulled the suit over her body. She emptied a tool box, into which Plotmon leapt. With her disguise complete, Miayag walked into the building halls. The majority of people she passed were dressed in business suits, but they took no notice of her, in fact, she passed by at least five more people dressed like her; evidentially, repair technicians were a common sight; with almost complete freedom, she wandered the halls until she spied one of the people that were her prey, the Commander Yamaki.

            The blond man held his cigarette lighter as he passed her. She waited a moment before turning and following him through the halls until he arrived at double metal doors. He pushed it open without even knocking. Miayag twisted her head until she saw an air conditioning vent on the ceiling. The hall was bare, so she leapt into the air, grabbed a lamp fixture, kicked the grate out and slid inside.

111

            Sora had been sleeping peacefully for the first time in five days. The first night it was impossible for her to sleep, the second night, she had managed to drift into slumber after trying unsuccessfully for three hours. The third night it took her even longer, and each night she could only sleep for twenty to thirty minutes at a time. Now she was sleeping, soundly and deeply…

            …that was until she began to dream. She saw Taichi in her mind, the day he saved her from the Demon Lords, the day he and Yamato defeated GranDracmon, the day he proposed, and most horribly, the day he died. These visions danced across her head, and her body began to react. Tears began to stream from her eyes, and she was jarred awake.

            As she sat upright in her bed, a feeling of nausea swept over her. She stumbled to the ground, disregarding her crutches. She did not have time to climb back to her remaining leg and use them, so she simply crawled to the bathroom. Once her mouth was safely over the toilet, she expunged yesterday's dinner, what little of it she had actually eaten, and since she did not even have lunch, she only heaved empty gasps. When the fit was over, she fell onto her back, panting heavily.

            "This can't be normal, can't it?" she asked herself, "I can't kill myself like this…after everything I've been through: Datamon, Phantomon nearly slicing me in half, getting turned into a keychain by Piedmon, infected with the Second Black Death, captured by the Demon Lords…and this is how I die, by becoming so depressed that I actually kill myself."

            She used the toilet bowl to pull herself into a seated position, then rested her back against the wall. She ran a hand through her hair, which was now soaked with sweat. "I've got to see a doctor or something."

            She crawled back into her room and used the bed to climb to her crutches. With them tightly beneath her armpits, she lumbered out of her bedroom. Since she was a freelance designer, she really did not have a work schedule, so she normally slept late into the morning. It was early for her, and since she did not want to wake Piyomon, she silently as possible entered the kitchen. After more then a year of practice, she was able to easily maneuver around the tight corners, pouring herself a glass of green tea and preparing a bowl of miso soup. She made her way back to the kitchen table and began to eat.

            Her eyes wandered to the mail that she had dropped onto the table yesterday. One enveloped contained a stack of photographs that the computer store had enhanced for her. They were mostly pictures of her friends and family. One photograph contained an image of Mimi, seated within a hospital bed, holding a small baby in her arms. The next picture was of Michael and Mimi, who was still holding the baby, only the boy had grown quite a bit in the year since he was born. Another picture was of Jyou, with his wife Kiku, with a baby in Jyou's arms.

            The redhead sighed deeply. They all looked so happy, why did life decide to destroy her dreams of happiness? As she stared at the last picture, Jyou suddenly turned to Taichi, and Kiku changed to an image of herself. The tears began to sting her eyes once more.

111

            Yamaki walked through the halls of the government building, rapidly clicking his cigarette lighter. He maneuvered through the twists and turns until he arrived in a lower floor, specifically, a large, metal door, which he pushed opened without knocking. Inside, was a typical laboratory, with Kurata standing in the center. "C…commander! I was not aware that you were coming today…"

            "You didn't give me my status report."

            "Er…sorry, I was...otherwise engaged."

            "Yeah, doing what?"

            As the two men spoke, they were not aware that Miayag, and Plotmon were hidden inside the vent, staring down at them through the vent.

            Kurata nervously rubbed his hands. "Um…well, something very…interesting happened yesterday evening. I've been here all night."

            "What?"

            Kurata nodded quickly and mentioned to the right. He ran over to a small panel on the wall and pressed a large button. A section of the wall slid open, revealing at least twenty cage-like sections with glowing walls of energy separating them from the rest of Kurata's laboratory. The cages also contained a human and a digimon: two cages contained young women, four contained young men, two contained large Digitamas, one was a light yellow and the other a light brown, and four of those cages contained humans and digimon, that were lying motionless. Of the digimon…five resembled small dinosaurs and five resembled canines.

            Yamaki's eyes opened slowly, while Miayag's and Plotmon's shot open. "What is this?!"

            "Well, last night the eggs began to react strangely, and as you can see, eighteen of them…well, hatched, into a human and a digimon, a Chosen and a Partner. As you can see, seven weren't able to…well, survive. My early tests seem to indicate that these humans have a mixture of DNA and data. With further testing…"

            "Further testing?!" Yamaki shouted, "Further testing! You're holding them hostage!"

            "Sir, we don't know what they are, further study needs to be done…"

            "No!" he shouted, waving his arm, "This project is closed

            "Sir, we can't…"

            "Yes we can!" he shouted, "Terminate them now!"

            Before Kurata could respond, the air conditioning grate was kicked from its holding place and thrown to the ground. Miayag and Plotmon leapt from the opening and landed on the floor. The two men were too shocked to respond as the Priestess tore off the jump-suit so she could reach for her digivice, which was attached to a garter around her left leg. Once the mysterious device was in her hand, it twisted in to the holy Staff of Yuushi.

            Yamaki was finally able to speak. "You're the Priestess Miayag!"

            "That is correct, and I will not allow you to terminate those who you keep prisoner!" She pointed her staff forward. "I will give you but one warning, disregard it, and I will not be held accountable."

            Yamaki stared at her through his dark-tinted sunglasses, "I am a government official, and you are nothing but a criminal!"

            "While that was true of my former life, I will not deny it, however, you are holding sentient life prisoner, and that I will not allow!" As she gripped her staff, gold light slowly began to radiate from her body.

            Yamaki moved his wrist to her mouth, and only too late did Miayag realize that his watch also doubled as a communications device. "This is Yamaki! Code Red, Code Red!"

            Suddenly, klaxons began to blast through the halls, and the lights turned to a flashing red. Miayag continued to stare at the two men. "I repeat, release those prisoners."

            "We can't!" Kurata spoke up, "They are vital to the research I've been conducting on Chosen and digimon!"

            "I care nothing for your research, which may be corrupt and self-serving," she sneered, "Now, I will repeat myself only once more…"

            Before she could finish her sentence, however, the doors to the laboratory suddenly opened and a group of government agents stood at attention, strange firearms pointed directly at her head. Standing in the middle of the squad was a young woman with short blond hair.

            "Lt. Onodera," Yamaki said, "When I give the word, I want you to open fire…"

            Onodera nodded. "Weapons in position!"

            The soldiers all cocked their guns, awaiting the order to unleash their strange might. Miayag, however, nodded slightly at her partner. Plotmon charged forward and quickly evolved to Witchmon. Before the government agents could attack, the Demon Man raised her hands and fired a blast of water from her palms. "Aquari Pressure!"

            The agents were hit full force and were flung through the halls, scattering along the floor. Miayag glanced over her shoulder at Yamaki and Kurata, then turned back to Witchmon. "Maybe it would be best if we made a hasty exit…"

            "You're a criminal and you're not leaving here!" Yamaki shouted. "Lt. Ootori!"

            The Priestess twirled her head back to the door to the laboratory and saw the purple-haired agent walking towards them…and she was wearing a suit of full metal armor around her body, with a circular piece over her left eye, a laser canon mounted to her right forearm, and two metallic axes attached to her belt.  

            Miayag smirked, hardly able to contain her laughter. "An…exosuit, is it?"

            "That's right," Ootori grinned, "Hypnos labs weapons."

            "Hypnos, eh?" she asked, glancing around at the halls, "So, I now know what the name of this vile place is called." She turned her attention back to Ootori, and she once again began to chuckle, "You look like a reject from the Knight Sabersor an American comic book…"

            Ootori smirked back. "At least I don't prance around dressed like a prostitute and call myself a Priestess."

            "Reika!" Yamaki shouted, "What the hell are you doing? Attack her!"

            Ootori stared at Miayag for a moment, then charged forward, her metal-clad fist ready to strike. Witchmon leapt before her partner, maneuvering her hands, she once again unleashed her Aquari Pressure technique. Ootori brought her armored arms to her face, shielding it as the Demon Man's attack struck her. She skidded back from the force of the impact, but her exo-suit was unharmed. She grabbed the axes from her waist and charged forward. Witchmon dropped from her broom and used her wooden tool to block the weapons. The blades caught against the bristles and the two struggled to overpower the other, and eventually Witchmon was successful, throwing one of the axes to the ground. Before Ootori could attack with the other, Witchmon slammed her broom into her face, knocking her to the ground. With the Demon Man now standing on the ground, Ootori swung her metal-laced leg into Witchmon's legs, knocking her over as well. The Hypnos agent swung her last axe down, but the Demon Man blocked with her broom once again. Both leapt to their feet once more.

            Ootori pointed her wrist-based laser and fired. The beam struck Witchmon's broom, and it splintered into marvelous rays of light. The humans dodged for cover, while the beams struck the walls, piercing through metal and sensitive wiring. Electrical energy surged, overloading circuits and causing shorts across the grid. Lights shattered, computers exploded, and the energy walls on certain cage doors vanished.

            One of the females, one with a dinosaur digimon, blinked. "We are…free?"

            "I think so," one of the males with a dinosaur answered, "Let's get out of here while we can!"

            "Hold up!" one of the males with a canine shouted, "Wait for us!"

            The dinosuar-partnered duo turned and saw two of the canine-partnered, another male and female. They were each holding the giant digitamas. "What are you doing?" the dinosaur-partnered girl shouted.

            "That scientist guy said something was weird about them!" the canine-partnered girl shouted back, "Let's just get out of here now!"

            These four humans and four digimon were joined by four more, another canine-partnered male and another dinosaur-partnered male. With Yamaki and Kurata's attention focused on the battle, they were able to sneak past them gaze and vanished into the confusion.

111

            Ootori panted heavily as she stared down Witchmon. The Demon Man was gripping her broom tightly. Behind her, Miayag stood, attention intently focused, while behind her, stood Yamaki and Kurata.

            "What are you doing?" Kurata shouted, "You've got to stop her! Defeat her now, before everything I've done falls apart!"

            Yamaki gave him a glance, but said nothing.

            Ootori ran forward, swinging her remaining axe around, intending to cut Witchmon in two, but she executed another Aquari Pressure, blasting the Hypnos agent directly in the face. The force was enough to shatter the face shield, leaving her exposed. She continued with her attack, but the disorientation made her twist her hand, and the flat side of the axe struck Witchmon's back. She lurched forward, but grabbed Ootori and threw her into the wall. She was about to execute another Aquari Pressure, and with Ootori's face shied gone, it would be the final attack, but before she was able to, Kurata suddenly screamed.

            "The test subjects!" he shouted, "They're…they're gone!"

            "What?" the Hypnos commander shouted.

            "The battle!" the scientist shouted, "It must have shorted out the system! They're gone!"

            Miayag shouted to her partner, "Witchmon! Hurry, we must leave at once!"

            "You're not going anywhere!" Ootori shouted, struggling to her feet. Witchmon slammed the side of her head with her large fists, knocking her completely off balance and smashing her into the wall. Witchmon and Miayag jumped onto the broom and with their path clear, flew through the halls before locating a window, which through they smashed to freedmon.

            While Onodera and the other Hypnos agents helped Ootori to her feet, Yamaki stared after Miayag and Witchmon, clicking his cigarette lighter. Kurata walked up to him, "Commander, we've got to find those test subjects! There's no telling what kind of data just slipped through our fingers…"

            Yamaki twirled, knocking him into the ground. "There's no telling what kind of _damage_ they could do! Dispose of those other bodies right now!"

            He grumbled. "Yes, sir…"

            Yamaki walked over to Onodera. "Take Lt. Ootori to the med bay and take the exosuit to repairs. I'll expect a full report on my desk in the morning. If there's any more surprises, call me on my private cell phone."

            "Sir."

            Kurata stared at him as he exited the hallway.

111

            Noriko sighed with impatience as she tapped her foot. She stared at the magazine in her hand, but her eyes kept glancing to the clock on the wall. "Man, how much longer is this gonna take?"

            She leaned back in the cushioned seat of the office, and began to tap her fingers against the wooden armrests. The door soon opened, and Sora used her crutches to limp into the waiting area. Noriko leapt to her feet and ran to her side.

            "How was it?" she asked.

            The redhead shrugged. "I don't know, she wants to talk to me again. I've got to wait until she reviews my tests or something." She smiled slightly at Noriko, "But you don't have to, you can leave if you want."

            Noriko shrugged, "Nah, what kind of friend would I be if I left now?"

            Sora smiled. "Thanks for coming."

            "No prob, that's what best friends are for, right?"

            The door opened once again, and the elderly woman stepped inside the waiting room, a folder in her hands. "Miss Takenouchi, I've reviewed your tests, and…" She took a deep breath, "and there's something we need to discuss…"

            To be continued…

_Who are these mysterious Chosen and digimon that were born from the data or Taichi, Yamato, Agumon X and Gabumon X? What does the Hypnos organization want with the Chosen? What is Sora's mysterious diagnosis? Find out next!_

Author's note: The 'Knight Sabers,' are the main characters in _Bubblegum Crisis_, and the 'American comic book,' is a reference to Iron Man


	4. Dissociation of the Soul: Chapter 2

_My name is Sora Takenouchi…and at one point I had desperately wished with all of my heart to be named 'Yagami." It's strange, because the first person I really ever loved was Yamato Ishida. Of course, I was 14 at the time, and you know how teenagers are, everything is a life-changing event. Since I had a crush on Yamato, I thought he was the love of my life. But, two years later, we broke up, it happens. I've dated other guys since then, but when I was 24, I met up with Taichi Yagami again. Things started to happen between us, but then I was captured by the Demon Lord Cahiti, and Taichi rescued me. That was when we had our first kiss. After Taichi and Yamato defeated GranDracmon, he proposed, but…then he was killed, by a Fallen Chosen, named Tatsuo Juro, who fought my grandfather and the rest of the First Chosen. _

_            But, their data collected on the ground and turned into a group of Digitamas. This government agency called Hypnos, captured the eggs, but Taichi's cousin, the Priestess Miayag, tried to liberate them. But they turned into humans and digimon! While Miayag and one of the Hypnos agents fought, those humans and digimon escaped._

_            But I wasn't even aware those things were happening. I was depressed after Taichi died, so depressed that I was making myself sick. I went to see the doctor, and what he told me…I…I can't even deal with right now._

_Digimon Gog_

_Dissociation of the Soul_

_Chapter 2_

            In the darkness of night, six mysterious young adults were walking the streets of Tokyo. They were unique in the sense that they each walked with a digimon partner at their sides: three had dinosaur digimon and three had canine digimon, and even stranger still, the humans with the canine digimon looked similar to triplets, while the humans with the dinosaur digimon were the same.  The two females carried large Digitamas in their arms.

            "How much longer are we going to walk?" the female with the dinosaur digimon asked. She was dressed in a blue tank top with two orange stars on the side and a brown skirt. She wore a pair of goggles over top of her short brown hair.

            "She's got a point," the female with the canine responded, "We've got to figure out our next move." She was dressed in a sleeveless green shirt and an ankle-length blue denim skirt. She had shoulder-length, spiked blond hair.

            "Like what?" one of the males with the canine asked. He was dressed in a green t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts.

            "Where are we going?"

            One of the males with the dinosaur, glanced up to the night sky. "It is getting pretty late, why don't we settle somewhere for the night?" He was draped in a pair of brown shorts and an orange t-shirt with a blue, short-sleeved button shirt over top. He too, was wearing goggles.

            The four in front turned to the two in rear, "What do you two think?" the girl with the dinosaur asked.

            The male with the dark-colored dinosaur crossed his arms. "Whatever." He was wearing long brown pants, an orange t-shirt and a blue jacket that ended at his ankles.

            The female with the dinosaur snorted. "What's your problem?"

            The male with the canine digimon pointed to a building that was missing half of its top structure. "How about there? I think that's probably as good a place as any." He was wearing a green hooded jacket and dark blue jeans.

            The others agreed, and they entered through the missing main door. The inside was completely bare, all except for the steel I-beams that held the roof in place. The female with the canine examined the walls. "These look new. I think this building's being built."

            "Which means we've probably got to be out of here by morning," the male with the canine added.

            "We'll worry about that when it happens," the male with the dinosaur responded, "We've got bigger things to worry about right now."

            "Like what?"

            He stared at him. "What's your name?"

            The male responded. "I…I _think_ it's…it's Yamato, but…"

            "You're not sure, right?" the other male asked, "I'm not sure about who I am either, but we need other names."

            The other male shrugged. "All right I guess. Um…why don't you just call me Koji." He glanced at his digimon partner. "What about you?"

            The canine digimon bowed. "You may call me Gaomon."

            The other male nodded. "How about you call me Takuya?"

            His partner nodded. "And I'm Agumon."

            The female with the brown hair grinned. "Oh, me next! Um…call me…Tanna."

            Takuya raised an eyebrow. "Tanna?"

            Her partner was a dinosaur that was covered with white skin. "I'm Yuki Agumon."

            Tanna turned to the female with the canine digimon. "What about you? What do you want to be called?"

            The girl shrugged. "I don't know…how about Yariko?"

            Her partner, a digimon with pink skin and a stripped wolf fur coat, "I am Psychemon."

            Tanna grinned. "Great," She glanced to the two quiet members. "What about you guys?"

            They glanced at each other, then shrugged. The male with the dinosaur digimon answered first, "Call me…Miach…And my partner, Black Agumon."

            The other male responded. "And I'm Yamag, and my partner, Black Gabumon."

            The two virus digimon nodded slightly.

            "All right," Takuya said, "Why don't we settle in for the night?"

            "And then what?" Yariko asked.

            "Then…I don't know, do we want to try and contact the other Chosen?"

            "You mean, Noriko?" Koji asked.

            Takuya nodded. "And Sora."

            "Why would we want to do that?" Yamag asked.

            "What?" Yariko asked.

            "Come on, why do we want to go to them? We don't need them!"

            "He's right," Miach added, "We've got the power, the strength, we could take this city, this world! If all of our partners evolved to their mega forms, we could take even the X-Chosen!"

            The other four glanced at each other. "What's wrong with you guys?" Tanna asked.

            "We're not gonna hurt anyone!" Koji shouted.

            "We're here to _save_ this world!" Takuya shouted again.

            "And who put you in charge?" Miach asked.

            Takuya stared at him. "No one…"

            "Then why are we listening to you?"

            "Hey," Koji said, "Calm down, all right…"

            "Why don't you shut up?" Yamag asked.

            "What the hell is your problem?" Yariko snapped.

            "Running around in the night, hiding, when we should be walking with the world looking at us in envy!" Yamag growled, clenching his fists.

            The others did not respond, only stared in shock.

            "Fine," Miach said, "We're leaving."

            They began to leave. Yamag waved his hand slightly. "Later losers."

            The quartet exited the building and entered into the night once again. "Should we go after them or something?" Yariko asked.

            "The hell with them," Takuya said, giving the finger to the empty doorway, "We need sleep. I'm fucking exhausted."

            After the others had fallen asleep, the one calling himself Takuya, rose to his feet. He gently kicked his snoring partner. "Wake up."

            Agumon rubbed his eyes. "W..what…?"

            "Come on," he whispered, "Before anyone hears us."

            "Too late."

            He looked over and saw Koji and his Gaomon rising to their feet. "Where are you going?" Koji asked.

            Takuya paled. "Uh…n…nowhere…." He sighed, "All right, we're going to look for the other two…"

            "Then we're coming with you," Koji responded.

            Takuya sighed. "Fine, whatever, let's go."

111

            While the mysterious young women slept, there was no rest for other citizens of Tokyo.

            Sora sat on the couch in her living room, staring at the television. She should sleep, she needed rest, but when she closed her eyes, she could only think of her early visit to her doctor.

            "_Miss Takenouchi, I've reviewed your tests, and…and there's something we need to discuss…"_

            She closed her eyes tightly and squeezed her legs tightly to her chest.

            "Sora?"

            She glanced over her shoulder and saw Piyomon standing at the door to her room. "Sora, you need to sleep."

            "I know, Piyomon, I know," she sighed, "But I can't stop thinking…worrying…."

            The pink bird sighed. "I know, but…it's not going to do you any good if you're exhausted too…"

            "I…I just _can't_ sleep…I've tried…"

            The pink bird nodded. "Well…" She turned to the television, "What's on anyway?"

            The redhead smiled slightly. "Nothing…like usual…package deal my ass…." she muttered. She sighed and buried her face in her hands, "Piyomon, what am I gonna do?"

            Her partner lightly rubbed her back with her remaining wing, "We'll think of something. Don't worry."

111

            In another portion of the city, Noriko lay awake in the bed that she, until recently, had shared with Yamato, now, she was alone.

            She lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She had her eyes closed, trying hard not to think of anything, only breathe heavily and deeply, trying to force herself to sleep. It did not work, so she twisted to her side, and continued her previous strategy, but it did not work again. Frustrated, she threw off the covers in anger and climbed to her feet. She walked over to the window and stared out into the night.

            "Yamato…damn it, why'd you leave me? You were the only one that really understood me, the only one that could stand me…We were perfect for each other…why does fate hate me so much? Damn it…"

            She opened the glass and stuck her head outside, taking a deep breath. She was not fond of the autumn air, but, as the Daughter of Darkness, the night was comforting to her. Even the nose and chaos from the streets below did not matter to her, the soothing, healing of the night was enough.

            With her heart once again at peace, she climbed back into bed and soon drifted to sleep.

111

            In the Kido apartment, everyone was sleeping soundly, even Jyou's wife, Kiku, who had shoved large chunks of cotton into her ears to block out Jyou's snoring.

            In Hikari's apartment, the young woman had finally fallen asleep, and was resting peacefully, with Plotmon X curled up at her side. Her dreams were of her brother, and of her boyfriend Mitsuo, with whom she was quickly falling deeply in love.

            In the Hypnos building, there was no sleep. After Miayag's invasion, and Lt. Reika Ootori's attempts to stop her, most of the lower floors had been damaged. The communications operator, Megumi Onodera, was now required to complete a report that was due on Commander Yamaki's desk in the morning. Deeper below, in his laboratory, Dr. Kurata was studying the data he had received from the mysterious Chosen that were birthed from the data of Taichi and Yamato.

            In a simple apartment somewhere within Tokyo, a foul being stood on the balcony of his apartment, staring up into the night sky. This being was the Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro. He stood on his balcony and stared up at the star-filled sky, his defeat of Taichi and Yamato still fresh in his mind.

            "I was able to defeat them, the two lords of the X-chosen, and with their deaths, the rest of the Chosen will be leaderless." He glanced down at his hands, which were holding his weapon tightly. "With my Flail of Chance, I could kill them all…but no, the other weapons have fallen here as well. If I were to gather them all, then I would have an army at my disposal…"

            He grinned, imagining a group of nine Chosen, each with a weapon of the First Chosen, all under his command. "This world could be mine! I would have my vengeance on Yuushi, Hidokoro, Lucien and the others!"

            He turned towards the ground, "But I do not have any idea where those weapons have landed…I only felt them enter Earth, and I knew where the Flail of Chance landed because it is mine. Yagami and Ishida held two weapons…I wonder where they had gone after their deaths…" He grinned, "I bet the granddaughters of Hidokoro of Fire and Daiyu of Darkness know, and if they refuse to tell….then they will soon be joining their lovers!"

111

            When the first rays of the sun rose over the horizon, casting its illumination onto the city, a good portion of its citizens were waking from a night's rest. However, this did not wake Chihi Miayag, for she and her Plotmon had remained on vigil, watching from an adjacent building roof, the headquarters of the mysterious Hypnos organization. The Priestess stood at the edge, one knee bent on the ledge, continually staring at the building's main door. Her Plotmon stood at her side, obviously bored.

            "Are we leaving yet?" she asked.

            "No, not until my prey has left."

            The Mammal sighed and crawled back to her feet to look at the building as well. At least five people had exited, but Miayag remained stationary. "Oh come on!" Plotmon whined, "This is sooooo boring!"

            The Priestess remained stone-faced, that is, until a blond-haired man exited the building. "Yamaki," she grinned, "come Plotmon, the hunt begins!"

111

            When Tanna opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was that only she, Yariko, their partners, and the two large Digitamas where there. "Where are Takuya and Koji?"

            She walked over to where Yariko was sleeping. She lightly shook her shoulder, and the other girl opened her eyes with a start. "What?" she shouted, "Are we under attack?"

            "No, Takuya and Koji are missing."

            She sighed. "That's it? They probably went out for breakfast or something…"

            "What?" she gasped, "Are you insane?"

            The other girl sighed, then climbed to her feet. "All right…all right. What precisely do you think we should do?"

            Tanna thought for a minute. "I…I don't know…"

            Yariko crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

            "Hey, at least _I_ wanted to look for them, you didn't care!"

            "Of course I cared!" she snapped back, "I just didn't want to flip out over nothing!"

            "Them missing isn't 'nothing!' It's serious!"

            As the argument continued, the large Digitamas began to glow slightly. The two girls did not notice, but their partners did. Yuki Agumon and Psychemon stared in confusion, then horror as the eggs began to crack! Yuki Agumon stumbled backwards, then grabbed Tanna's leg. "Uh…you need to see this…"

            "Not now!" she shouted.

            "No," Psychemon said, more forcefully, "You _need_ to see this _right now!"_

            Both young women turned to where their partners were pointing. They both shouted in awe as the other shells of the two Digitamas completely shattered…revealing two infant babies lying within the crumbled remains of the large eggs.

            Yariko and Tanna glanced at one another, completely in shock.

111

            Miayag had been trailing Yamaki for most of the day. While she preferred to follow him from the building roofs, when he descended the stairs to the subway line, she had no choice but to leap to ground level and follow. She blended into the crowd, observing from a safe distance. When he exited the train, she and Plotmon quickly followed, and when they were on street level once more, she leapt up the nearest fire escape and continued her surveillance from the building roofs.

            "Praise the heavens," she sighed, "I thought for certain that he would have seen us if we had remained on ground for much longer."

            Plotmon huffed as she ran alongside her partner. "Yeah, but, have you noticed where we are?"

            She glanced around at the cityscape. "No."

            "You weren't paying attention to the subway stops?"

            "No, what is it?"

            "We're in Shinbashi."

            "Shinbashi," Miayag thought, "That's where _Juukeitei_…er…where_ juushi lives…"_ She mentally scolded herself, as her _Juukeitei_, her male cousin Taichi, was no longer alive, only her _juushi_, her female cousin, Hikari, lived in that apartment. A feeling of horror passed over her, "Does Yamaki know where _juushi_ lives? Is he here to threaten her?"

            "Maybe we should warn her?" Plotmon suggested.

            "Not yet," she responded, "Not until I am certain where he is going. I do not wish to worry her…especially since she is not doubt in pain over her brother's death."

            "You just don't want to see her because of everything we did to them a year ago."

            She frowned, remembering the evil deeds she had done when she was a pawn of GranDracmon. She frowned and glanced to the ground. "S…sorry," Plotmon said, "I didn't mean to make you…"

            "No, it is fine, I was only…." She gasped suddenly, "I…I cannot see Yamaki!"

            Plotmon began to glance around as well, staring down at the massive crowd of people. It was only for a moment, but by taking their eyes off of the blond young man, he had completely vanished.

            "Damn it!" Miayag swore, kicking the side of the roof with her heeled boots.

            Plotmon continued to stare down at the street below, when she spotted two familiar young women in the sea of people. "Hey, isn't that Sora and Noriko?"

            Miayag glanced over the roof's edge. "Yes, I wonder what they are doing here."

            "They're probably here to see Hikari."

            "Yes, that would make sense." She stared down at the two young women before noticing a figure standing atop a roof on the other side of the street, a figure that sent a wave of ice down her spine, but made her blood boil.

            "Look!" Plotmon shouted, pointing at the figure, "That's…"

            "Yes, I know," she growled, "The Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro."

111

            Sora limped forward on her crutches as Noriko walked at her side. She looked up to the blue sky and breathed heavily. "At least it's a nice day, right?"

            The redhead glanced at her. "Noriko, that sounds…so optimistic for you…"

            She began to blush. "Yeah, well, you know…"

            Sora smiled. "Well, I'm sure Hikari could use some company. We keep forgetting that she lost someone she cared for too."

            "I hope she's home," Noriko said.

            "She should be," Sora said, "It's Sunday, and I know she usually grades papers."

            Noriko smiled slightly. "At least she has a real job that she loves," she frowned, "All I do all day is flip burgers."

            Sora raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you're not doing the register anymore?"

            The other woman shook her head. "No, they moved me to the grill after I threatened to shove the plastic toy that came in our kids' meal down that fucking woman's throat because she was complaining that I didn't fill the soda cup enough."

            Sora chuckled. "Oh Noriko, what am I going to do with you?"

            She ignored that remark. Instead, she asked, "So, did you hear from Mimi and Michael?"

            The redhead nodded. "Yeah, she's doing good. She was in labor for um…twenty hours…"

            Noriko nodded. "Uh…is that long?"

            Sora smiled. "I couldn't tell you."

            "What's his name?"

            "It's…um…Gabriel."

            "Gabriel?"

            "Yeah, its Jewish or something like that."

            "I thought Michael was Catholic."

            Sora shrugged. "I don't know, I guess it's a common name in America."

            "Well, what are you gonna…" she trailed off as she felt a blast of cold run up her spine. She stared at Sora. "You felt that too, right?"

            She nodded. "Yeah…that last time we felt that…"

            Noriko clenched her fists. "Yamato and Taichi died." She began to twirl her head around, studying the features of the people as they past, then began to glance up at the sky. "Why don't you stop hiding and show yourself! You fucking son of a bitch, we know you're here!"

            "Noriko!" Sora shouted, "Behind!"

            Both young women spun around and saw standing before them the face of their nightmares, Tatsuo Juro, the Fallen Chosen. "Hello my dears," he smiled, "How are you this day?"

            "Fuck you!" Sora snapped.

            Juro grinned, "Such bad behavior for a Daughter of the First, especially the Queen of the Daughters of the First."

            Sora only glared, her eyes turning red with rage, and red light began to radiate from her being.

            "The Fires of the Digital World," he said with a chuckle, "I can still remember when Hidokoro used that rage in battle, of course, you are nothing compared to him."

            "Hey, shut the fuck up!" Noriko ordered.

            Juro turned to her. "Ah yes, Noriko, Princess of the Daughters of the First, the Daughter of Darkness. I remember your grandmother as well, and you are not Daiyu."

            "What the hell do you want?" Sora shouted, "You already took Taichi and Yamato from us, there's nothing else you can take, they were everything to us! So just go."

            He smiled slightly. "I am sorry, but that I cannot do, for there is still something you have that I want."

            "What the hell is that?" Noriko spat.

            "The Katana of Hidokoro and the Airguns of Lucien."

            They blinked. "We don't have those," Sora said.

            Noriko glared, her eyes narrowed. "They were destroyed when…when you killed Yamato and Taichi."

            "That is impossible, for it would take far more then that to destroy those weapons." He crossed his arms, "Now, you know my power is real, so it would do you no good to lie. I will give you one chance more, where are the weapons?"

            "We don't have them!" Sora shouted.

            Juro sighed. "I had given you a chance, and you refused, so I now have no choice but to use force." He once again reached into his jacket and emerged with the Digitama in his palm. Both young women tensed as he tossed it into the air, where it glowed and exploded, revealing the Adult form of Raptordramon. The cyborg digimon hovered behind his partner.

            "What are your orders?" he asked.

            Juro pointed at Sora. "Take her first, but gently, she still has to be able to talk."

            "As you wish, master."

            Sora stared with horror as Raptordramon floated towards her, his razor mouth opening. He pulled his head back, and just as he was about to strike, a cat woman suddenly appeared from the sky, slamming her foot into Raptordramon's side, throwing him into the ground. The cat woman landed and watched as the cyborg digimon struggled to right himself and once he managed to get himself back into the air, the cat woman held up her hands, which displayed long, claw-like nails. She grinned behind her veil and charged forward.

            The three Chosen stared in awe as they watched Raptordramon battle the cat woman. "Bastemon?" Noriko gasped.

            Sora blinked. "That means…" She was cut off as a figure draped in a white and pink dress with an orange cape appeared before her, staring at Juro.

            "Miayag," the redhead said, completely amazed.

            "You will not harm these two," the Priestess said, staring directly at the Fallen Chosen.

            Juro stared at her, then grinned. "So, _Priestess_, the so-called Daughter of Fate, I am Tatsuo Juro, the Chosen of Chance."

            Miayag glared at him. "You say that as if I should be frightened."

            "You should my dear," he grinned, "There is so much that you don't know. There were nine First Chosen, correct? And with me, that makes ten, Light against Darkness, Water against Fire, Wind against Earth, Forest against Metal…" his face broke into a grin, "Chance against Fate."

            "If that is true," Miayag retorted, "Then why are you not counted among the First Chosen?"

            "Because not only was I brought to aid them later, but I was exiled," his smile turned into a snarl, "By your grandfather, I might add."

            "I am certain that he had his reasons," she replied.

            "You would believe that, wouldn't you?" he chuckled, "Now, you hold his weapon, don't you?"

            Miayag reached for her digivice, which was attached to her left leg via a garter. Once it was in her hand, it twisted and changed, transforming into the Staff of Yuushi. The Fallen Chosen grinned. "Excellent." He reached into his jacket, and emerged with his weapon, the Flail of Chance.

            "Be careful!" Sora shouted, "He killed Taichi!"

            Miayag sighed. "Yes, I know, I saw it happen."

            "You saw it happen?" Noriko shouted, "You were there, and you didn't help?"

            "I came too late," she replied.

            The Daughter of Darkness glared. "Why don't I believe you?"

            "Noriko!" Sora scolded.

            Meanwhile, Bastemon and Raptordramon continued their battle. The cat woman utilized her impressive agility to dash and leap around, easily avoiding the cyborg digimon's deadly jaws. Raptordramon caught sight of Bastemon to his right, so he whipped open his razor-sharp metal wing, but the cat woman executed a back flip, twisting into the air and landing atop Raptordramon's back. She pulled her claws back, ready to embed them deep within the cybrog's back, but Raptordramon suddenly twisted around. Bastemon slid down his body and clamped her legs around his tail, so as he flipped, she hung on as tightly as she could. With her body secured, she began to use her claws to tear and slash at his back. He ignored the pain as best he could, flipping and twisting, trying to throw her from his back, but she held tight. Using her claws, she had begun to dig a deep grove into his back, tearing and slashing at the same spot.

            Miayag grinned. "It would appear that you have lost whatever advantage you previously had. There will be vengeance for what you have done!"

            "Be careful!" Sora shouted, "Please…"

            Miyag did not respond. Sora turned her gaze from the Priestess to her partner. Despite her original determination, Bastemon's strength soon gave out, and when Raptordramon slammed his back into a building, the cat woman fell, crashing to the ground.

            "That's it!" the redhead shouted. She dug into her purse and pulled out her orange cell phone. She autodialed a familiar number. "Hikari? Hikari, listen, you've got to come right now! Get Plotmon and…I'm in Shinbashi…you're not? It's your cousin, she's fighting Juro right now! Okay." She dropped the phone bag into the bag, "She's coming right over."

            "Where was she?" Noriko asked.

            "She and Mitsuo were in Shibuya. She's coming as fast as she can."

            Meanwhile, despite her earlier injury, Bastemon had leapt back to her feet, then used an adjacent building to once again leap onto his back. She located the area she had been tearing at and was about to continue her assault, but down below, Juro reached into his jacket and emerged with a familiar golden weapon. Once the Flail of Chance was in the sunlight, it glowed brightly, a glow that was soon shared by Raptordramon, this glow was so strong that it flung Bastemon back to the ground.

            Miayag and Bastemon held their breaths and watched as Raptordramon evolved to a menacing sight. "Metal Piranhmon," Bastemon said in silent awe.

            "You bypassed the Fully Evolved level," Miayag commented, "How was that possible?"

            Juro chuckled. "There is much you do not understand, there is so much I could teach you."

            "From what you learn from the arcane arts, correct?"

            He gave a slight nod. "I see that you know more then I originally thought."

            Sora and Noriko stared at Metal Piranhmon, remembering the night when he killed Taichi and Yamato. "How can she be so calm?" the redhead asked, mentioning to Miayag.

            "She's got balls," Noriko responded, "Coming right out of her p…"

            Before she could respond, Metal Piranhmon roared with rage and power. Both young women shivered slightly, the memory of their deceased love ones cutting deep into their souls.

            Bastemon only smirked. "If that's supposed to scare me, it's not working. I don't care how strong you are, I'll still tear you apart!"

            Metal Piranhmon chuckled in his deep voice. "You know, I think that's the same speech that Yagami and Ishida gave."

            The cat woman winced slightly, and even though it was only for a moment, it was enough for Metal Piranhmon to whip the plunger attached to the end of his tail into her face, throwing her into the near-by building with tremendous force. The bricks cracked and Bastemon stumbled forward, clearing in a daze.

            "Bastemon!" Miayag cried.

            "I'm all right," she said, limping forward, "That was just a cheep shot!"

            "You know what they say," Metal Piranhmon chuckled, "All's fair."

            "Don't fight him!" Sora shouted, "Please, you'll get killed! Please...!"

            "I had hoped to face him later," Miayag explained, "But now that it is happening…"

            "Wait for Hikari, please!"

            "This would be the end result of anything that we could plan," she replied, gripping the Staff of Yuushi tightly, "We will not run."

            Juro roared with laughter. "Then please give my regards to Yagami and Ishida when you see them."

            Metal Piranhmon floated forward, his mouth opening wide to reveal his rows of sharp teeth. Bastemon readied herself for battle, when suddenly, both the Flail of Chance and the Staff of Yuushi began to glow.

            "What is this?" Miayag gasped, staring down at her weapon.

            Juro grinned. "The Holy Weapons are being used."

            "More weapons?" the Priestess exclaimed, "But they were lost! The only other weapons were…" Her eyes narrowed, "The Katana and the Shotguns…"

            "They are close," Juro said, "Very close." He turned to his partner, "Come, we must go at once!"

            "Damn," Metal Piranhmon pouted. He regressed to his Digitama, which landed gently within Juro's arms. The Fallen Chosen gave a grin.

            "I shall see you again. Farewell." He shoved the Flail of Chance and the Digitamas into his jacket, then quickly exited the area.

            "Should we go after him?" Bastemon asked.

            Miayag nodded. "Yes, quickly."

            "Wait!" Sora shouted, limping forward, "Wait! W…why are you even here?"

            She still would not face either Sora or Noriko. "I came when I felt an intense, overwhelming feeling wash over me, five days ago."

            "Taichi and Yamato felt it too," Noriko commented, "But now they're gone."

            Miayag sighed, thinking of the mysterious being she saw in Kurata's laboratory at Hypnos. "I….um….I must pursue him. I swear that I shall bring him to justice for what he has done."

            "What are you so eager to help us anyway?" Noriko glared.

            "Taichi was my cousin, and…and I am not the person I once was. Please tell Hikari that I will contact her shortly. Farewell for now. Bastemon!"

            The cat woman gently grabbed her partner and scaled the side of the building, vanishing into the sky.

            "I can't believe she's here," Sora said.

            "Yeah, me either," Noriko muttered, "I'd thought for sure she'd be a slut for some pimp she thinks is god."

            "Noriko!" Sora snapped.

            The brown-haired woman stared. "Hey, she made my friends almost kill me, remember?"

            "But she's different, can't you tell?"

            She crossed her arms. "Yeah, well…"

111

            The two mysterious Chosen that left Takuya and Koji were now walking through a decrepit section of the city, filled with the homeless and the addicts. This congregation ignored the two travelers, but the two travelers did not ignore them.

Black Gabumon sniffed the air. "There's meat here, someone's cooking."

Black Agumon opened his mouth, his teeth drooling. "Food….food!"

Miach whacked his partner in the back of his head. "Shut up!"

            Yamag sighed in annoyance. "What exactly are we doing?"

            "Who cares?" Miach chuckled, "Anything we want, this whole city is ours for the taking!" He walked past a young man who was drinking alcohol from a large glass bottle. Miach grabbed the bottle from his hands and began to drink.

            "Hey you fucker!" the young man shouted, but was quickly silenced when Black Agumon snarled at him. After chugging it down, he handed it to Yamag, who drank as well.

            "Just think about it," Miach grinned, "We could do anything…why not become crime lords or something?"

            The other young man rolled his eyes. "Just admit you don't have any idea."

            Miach growled, then caught sight of a young woman walking past them. She was dressed in a black tank top with a skull embroidered on the front, and a short black skirt. He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air. She stared at him with horror in her eyes, and tried to scream, but his grip was iron.

            "Tell you what," Miach chuckled, "Why don't we start with satisfying ourselves, then we'll worry about what to do?"

            Yamag stared at the girl for a moment, then grinned. "Sounds good to me."

            "Put her down, right now!"

            The foursome glanced over and saw Takuya, Koji and their partners standing only a few feet way. Miach frowned, "Did you say something to be, gnat?"

            "I said put her down!" Takuya shouted again, clenching his fists tightly.

            "What if we refuse?" Yamag asked, chuckling slightly. Miach grinned as well, using his other hand to lightly rub the terrified girl's cheek. Her eyes stared at Takuya and Koji, pleading with them.

            Koji glared. "If you hurt her, then we'll kill you."

            Miach glanced at the girl, then back at Takuya, Koji and their partners, who were staring with narrowed eyes. He gave a slight chuckle and threw her to the ground. She jumped to her feet and ran from them as fast as she could. The other inhabitants of this 'bad part of town' had gathered to watch, but the sight of the digimon was keeping them at bay.

            "What the hell do you two want?" Yamag asked.

            Takuya answered. "I don't like the idea of you two walking around on your own, we should stick together."

            Miach and Yamag glanced at each other, then turned back. Miach shrugged. "Nah, not gonna happen."

            Koji sighed. "Well, we're not gonna let you two run around…especially if that girl is any indication of what your plans are…"

            Yamag stared at him. "So high and mighty aren't we? I'm so honored that you came off of your holy mountain to walk with us mortals." He bowed slightly.

            Takuya stepped forward. "I'm giving you one last chance, come back with us willingly, or face down in the pavement!"

            "And what do you plan to do with us if we refuse?" he asked.

            Takuya hesitated. He had not thought that far ahead, but with the way everyone was staring at him, he had to answer. "We'll figure that out after we've kicked your ass!"

            "Oh great," Koji sighed, "No plan of attack, and now no plan of capture."

            He shot to him, "What are you talking about? I've got a plan of attack!"

            "Oh yeah, what's that?"

            Takuya spun back around and pointed an X-modified digivice at his partners. Agumon began to glow with red energy as he evolved, changing into a large Tyrannosaurus Rex, with long horns on his helmeted head, and sharp spikes on his shoulders. "Agumon evolve to Geogreymon!"

            "That's your plan?" Koji snorted. He reached for his own X-modified digivice, "Fine, Gaomon…"

            His bipedal blue canine stepped forward, glowing with bright white light, evolving into a four-legged blue wolf with a mane of white fur and a pair of red tendrils from his shoulders. "Gaomon evolve to Gaogamon!"

            Takuya started to laugh. "Yeah, you've got nothing now!"

            Miach and Yamag both held out their own digivices, which began to glow with a dull golden light. Black Agumon and Black Gabumon began to glow in the same light as they too evolved, Black Agumon into a giant metal dinosaur and Black Gabumon to a three-headed canine beast.

            "Black Agumon evolve to Metal Tyrannomon!"

            "Black Gabumon evolve to Cerberumon!"

            Gaogamon gasped. "Did…did they just evolve _past_ the Adult level?"

            Geogreymon was equally as surprised. "Yeah, they did…."

            Before Gaogamon could respond, Cerberumon charged forward, bashing his center head into the blue wolf's snout, knocking him into a decaying building. Before Geogreymon could even call out his partner's name, Metal Tyranomon shot forward with surprising speed and slammed his fist into the side of the organic dinosaur's snout, knocking him to the ground. The Cyborg digimon lifted his large foot, ready to smash into the organic dinosaur's face, but he whipped his tail around, knocking into his feet, throwing him off balance. Geogreymon leapt to his feet and butted his head into Metal Tyranomon's chest. The cyborg whipped his arms around and slammed them into his back just as he bashed his knee into Geogreymon's stomach. The organic digimon whipped his head around and dug his rows of teeth into the metal digimon's arm. Despite the thick metal of his skin, even Metal Tyranomon felt the pinch of Geogreymon's thick teeth. Yet, he was able to throw him into a decrepit building, which collapsed under the strain.

            "Geogreymon!" Takuya shouted.

            The large dinosaur roared as he threw the piled debris from his body and stood fully erect. He panted heavily as he stared at Metal Tyranomon. "Come on, come on!" he shouted.

            Metal Tyranomon laughed with maniacal laughter as he rushed forward. Geogreymon readied himself to attack, but before he could, Metal Tyranomon spit out a mighty blast of flame that engulfed Geogreymon, causing him to scream in pain before he collapsed into the ground…..

            ….After Cerberumon bashed his head into Gaogamon, throwing him into a decaying building, cashing the wall to collapse around him. Koji stared with worry, but breathed a sigh of relief when his partner jumped out of the pile of rubble and charged forward. He opened his mouth and fired a twisting beam of energy. "Spiral Blow!" 

His attack struck Cerberumon in his center head, forcing him to skid backwards, but when he leapt into the air, intending to land on top of the three-headed beast's back, but Cerberumon leapt backwards, and Gaogamon continued to the ground. Cerberumon whipped his head around and chomped down on the wolf's back leg; with simple ease he flung Gaogamon into another building wall. The wolf displayed surprising, snake-like contortions and twisted his body around so he could fire his Spiral Blow again, directly in the head's eyes. The pain was too great and he released his grip; Gaogamon leapt to freedom.

The two wolfs stared at one another, glaring with battle-fury. They waited for only a moment before charging forward. Gaogamon opened his mouth, "Spiral…"

            Cerberumon began to spit green flame from all three of his mouths. "Hell Fire!"  This green energy struck Gaogamon at full force, dropping him to the ground. Cerberumon darted forward and used his left mouth to grab Gaogamon's back legs and his right mouth to grab his front legs. He lifted the wolf into the air and then used his middle mouth to crush his mid-section with all the force of his rows of sharp teeth. The wolf shouted out in pain.

            "Gaogamon!" Koji shouted, "Hang on, please…"

            Cerberumon flung the injured wolf to the side, where he landed next to the fallen Geogreymon. Takuya and Koji stared in horror, while Miach laughed. "So, I believe you were going to take us in with our faces down in the pavement? I think you may have been confused…" He grinned.

            Takuya and Koji stared at their opponents, then back at their partners. They suddenly felt an overwhelming energy well up inside of them. Takuya's body began to mysteriously radiate with flames, which gathered into his hand, transforming into a long, curved blade. Koji, on the other hand, began to glow with bright light, which gathered into his hands, turning into a short-barreled shotgun. The two humans stared at these newly-created weapons with surprise, then both grinned. They pointed the katana and shotguns at their partners, who began to glow with the same energy.

            "Geogreymon evolve to RiseGreymon!" Similar to Metalgreymon, except with red, razor wings and his cyborg arm was replaced with a giant revolver.

            "Gaogamon evolve to MachGaogamon!" Similar to Weregarurumon, except with two metal gauntlets on his arms.

            "Unbelievable," Yamag muttered.

            RiseGreymon pointed his revolver-arm at Metal Tyranomon and fired three quick burst of metal bullets. "Trident Revolver!"

            Metal Tyranomon whipped his arms up to shield his face, but the Chrome Digizoid bullets were enough to rip three holes in the demonic dinosaur's metal skin. He threw his arms open, pointed his right hand forward and fired a large missile. "Giga Destroyer II!"

            RiseGreymon hovered into the air and used his tail like a bat, whacking the missile back into Metal Tyranomon's chest, throwing him into the same decaying building. With the tyrannosaurus trapped within the rubble, RiseGreymon fired from the gun turrets on his wings and his chest, sending six beams of energy exploding into the metal dinosaur.

            Cerberumon growled from his three heads, staring at MachGaogamon. "Just because you evolved, doesn't mean you're any stronger! Hell Fire!"

He once again fired green flames from his mouth, but Machgaogamon screamed, "Howling Cannon!" He roared as loud as he could, sending waves of sound through his cannons, dissipating the green flames into nothingness. While Cerberumon was still in shock, MachGaogamon dropped to the ground and flexed his muscles. Cerberumon charged forward to attack, but the bipedal wolf shouted out, "Gaoga Tornado!"

            He began to encircle Cerberumon with such speed that a tornado appeared, within the safety of this cover, he used his fists to rapidly bash and smash against the three-headed canine's entire body, kicking and punching until Cerberumon could barely stand. MachGaogamon dropped in front of his three heads. Cerberumon opened his jaws, but MachGaogamon called out, "Winning Knuckle!" He punched the demon dog with enough force to send him tumbling backwards and crashed into Metal Tyranomon.

            "Ha!" Takuya laughed, eyeing Miach. "You were saying?"

            The other Chosen clenched his fists and stared at his defeated partner. "Perhaps we should get the hell out of here," Yamag suggested.

            "How?" Miach snapped.

            The blond man turned to his partner. "Cerberumon!"

            The demon dog managed to climb to his feet. "Inferno Gate!" he shouted, expunging dark energy from his mouth, which completely enveloped Takuya, Koji and their partners. When the darkness faded, their opponents had vanished.

111

            Hikari and Mitsuo started their return trip to Shinbashi as soon as they received Sora's message. The young woman found Sora and Noriko waiting for them inside of her apartment, and she was disappointed when she saw that someone else was not there.

            "My cousin just left?" she asked.

            Noriko nodded. "Yeah, back to whatever hole she crawled out of."

            "Noriko!" Sora sighed, "Yes Hikari, I'm sorry, she went after Juro."

            "I see," she sighed, "Well, at least I know she's okay." She grabbed a plate from the cabinet and poured a box of thin cookies onto it before placing it onto the table.  She then grabbed her teapot and poured the hot water into the mugs. She was about to pour into Mitsuo's cup, when he shook his head.

            "You don't want any?" she asked.

            "I, actually, should probably get going," he replied, standing up from the chair.

            "What?" she gasped, "Why?"

            ""I have some paperwork that I need to review for work," he answered, smiling slightly.

            Noriko chuckled. "You just don't want to hang around and hear 'girl talk,' huh?"

            Hikari gave her a slight glare, but Mitsuo chuckled. "Yeah, that's it, I don't want to be a fifth wheel." He lightly kissed Hikari on the cheek, "I'll call you later, okay?"

            "Sure," the younger woman grinned, opening the door for him. "Bye."

            He gave a slight wave to Sora and Noriko, then exited the apartment. As he walked through the hall, he stopped by a garbage can, and went to throw a wad of paper from his pocket into the can, he accidentally dropped his keys inside as well. As he reached inside and fished out his keys, two young women passed behind him and he saw from the corner of his eyes they were carrying two infants in their arms. When he turned to get a better look, they had already disappeared around the corner. He was certain that he had seen them before…in Kurata's laboratory.

            He ran back down the hall, but when he peered around the corner, they were already gone; and without proof, he could not search every apartment. With some reluctance, he began to walk the halls once more, reaching into his pocket, he lightly began to finger a cigarette lighter that was resting between his keys and wallet. Once he was outside of the building, he placed his sunglasses on his head, and Mitsuo Yamaki began to walk home.

111

            When Hikari heard a knock on the door, she was wondering if her boyfriend had returned, but when she saw the two young women holding babies in their arms standing in the hall, she did not know what to think. Finally, she was able to speak, "Um…can I help you?"

            The female wearing the blue tank top answered. "Hi, Hikari, I know this is going to sound weird but…well, I think I might be your brother."

To be continued…..


	5. Dissocation of the Soul: CHapter 3

_My name is Noriko Kawada, and why can't I ever be happy? I remember when I had my first crush, on Hiroshi Shibya, when we were being trained by the Odaiba Chosen. I don't know if it was really _love_, but, hey I was 12 years old, I thought my life was over every time I was embarrassed in school._

_            Anyway, after Hiroshi started going out with Keiko, I kind of felt depressed, and never really got into a serious relationship, but then I met Yamato. I mean, I knew Yamato from before, but after we fought Miayag for the first time, Yamato let me move in with him until I could find a place of my own. That's when we started to move closer and we fell in love. We were going to get married at some point, but then the Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro, appeared. That…that bastard took Yamato away from me! He took Taichi from my best friend Sora, too. _

_            But, something weird happened when they died, from their data or something, came a group of people that kind of looked like them. Two of them, Miach and Yamag left the group and Takuya and Koji fought them, and the Katana of Hidokoro and the Shotguns of Lucien appeared in their hands. Meanwhile, two more, Tanna and Yariko contacted Hikari._

_Digimon Gog_

_Dissociation of the Soul_

_Chapter 3_

            Black Agumon limped as he attempted to keep up with his partner. The human was walking too fast, and after a few city blocks, Miach finally glanced over his shoulder and when he saw his dark-skinned dinosaur limbering forward, he ran to his side.

            "How are you holding up?"

            "Fine!" the dinosaur growled, "But when I see that fucking RiseGreymon again, I'm going to rip out his throat!"

            Miach knelt down to lightly pat his shoulder. "Don't worry, buddy, just try to heal right now."

            The other human crossed his arms as he stood impatiently on the sidewalk. His BlackGabumon partner was equally as annoyed. "Any time you two lovers are ready."

            "Fuck you," Miach snapped back.

            "Where are we going, anyway?" Black Gabumon asked before a fight could start.

            Miach rose back to his feet and he stared up at the setting sun. "Those other two, Takuya and Koji, they were able to summon the Katana and the Shotguns, and I want to know why we can't."

            Yamag raised his eyebrow. "And where would that be? Sora? Noriko?"

            He glared. "No, try to think, why the hell would they know?"

            Yamag tried to keep his temper under control. "Miayag?"

            "Good, now you're thinking, but where is she?"

            "How the hell should I know?"

            "That's the point, we don't know where she is, after GranDracmon, she just disappeared." He was, of course, unaware that the Priestess was only a few miles from his location.

            "Then where are we going?" Black Agumon asked.

            "The place where we escaped."

            "That lab?" Yamag shouted, "Are you insane?"

            "I think that scientist guy might know what's going on, he studied us, remember?"

            "Yeah, and I also remember that he kept us in those cages!"

            "Well, I think it's the best we've got so far, and we've got something he needs."

            "Oh yeah, and what's that?"

            "Remember what his boss told him? He wanted us exterminated, if we can bring him the others, I don't think he'll be so quick to get rid of us."

            Yamag crossed his arms and sighed. "Sure, what the hell? Let's go for it!"

111

Takuya kicked open the door to the partly-constructed building where he and the other duplicates had spent the previous night. It took him a moment to remember the names of the others. "Tanna? Yariko?" he asked.

            There was no response. "Are you guys here?" he shouted.

            "Where'd they go?" Agumon asked.

            Koji stepped inside and began to search through the construction site. "Yeah, they're not here."

            "Well, where the hell did they go?" Takuya grumbled, crossing his arms.

            Koji thought for a moment. "Did they go back to that Kurata guy?"

            "I doubt it," Takuya muttered, "So where else?"

            The other young man shrugged slightly. "Noriko and Sora?"

            Takuya sighed, "That's what I'm thinking, but damn it, why'd they go alone?"

            "Why don't you two want to go to them?" Gaomon asked.

            "That's not it," Koji explained, "It's just...what were we going to say to them?"

            "I guess it doesn't matter now, right?" Agumon asked, "If they're there, then, you won't have to say anything, right? So let's go!"

            "Now?" Koji asked.

            "I don't know about you," Takuya yawned, "But I'm pretty tired. Let's wait until tomorrow."

111

            Miayag held tightly to Witchmon's broom as the digimon flew through the afternoon sky over Tokyo. The Priestess kept her eyes focused on the sea of people below her, yet she could not find the person for which she had been searching. Finally, she sighed in defeat. "It is no use, Juro has vanished."

            "Just blended in, you mean," Witchmon muttered.

            "Yes," Miayag muttered, "And we do not have any leads whatsoever." She frowned, "Now what shall we do?"

            "We could go see your cousin, right?" Witchmon suggested, hopeful.

            "Not yet," she frowned, "I do not wish to see her without a definite answer."

            Her partner pouted. "So much for a rest," she muttered.

            Miayag smiled slightly. "Come, if we have lost Juro, then it is time we search for our other prey, Yamaki."

            "Back to Hypnos?" Witchmon asked.

            The Priestess thought for a moment, then glanced to the setting sun. "He has probably gone home by now. We will continue tomorrow."

111

            Hikari, Sora and Noriko were staring across the kitchen table at the two other young women that had appeared only an hour ago. The mysterious visitors were feeding the two young babies that they arrived with; their digimon partners were eating as well. Once the two babies were fed, the two young women placed the food dishes into the sink. They then turned back to the others.

            "Sorry," the girl with the goggles said, "They were getting hungry."

            Sora nodded. "Yeah, sure…um, who are you again?"

            The girl chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I know you're probably pretty freaked out about this."

            "Probably?" Noriko chuckled, "That's an understatement."

            "Please," Hikari said, "Can you explain again?"

            "As best we can," the other girl said, "You can call me Yariko.

            "And I'm Tanna," the other girl smiled, "And we're missing two more, Takuya and Koji, who went after Miach and Yamag."

            Hikari nodded, "Yes, but…what you said when you came here…you said you were my brother."

            She fidgeted, "Well, kinda…I mean, sort of…I…I'm not making sense, am I? Well, the first thing I really remember is waking up in a weird laboratory."

            "And we weren't alone," Yariko added, "Like we said, Takuya, Koji, Miach and Yamag were there, but there were more, and those others died."

            "Ten of you?" Sora asked.

            "Twelve," Yariko clarified, mentioning to the two babies.

            Tanna nodded. "Yeah and we were freed when Miayag invaded."

            Hikari's ears perked. "My cousin was there?"

            "Yeah, and she started fighting against the soldiers, and it shorted out the power or something, and we were able to escape."

            Hikari frowned. "Why was my cousin there?"

            "I think she was trying to help us," Yariko said.

            Hikari looked over at Tanna. "But what you said about being my brother," she pressed.

            "Well," Tanna said, "I…I can remember things about him, I mean, it's like I have some of his memories."

            "Don't forget the other thing too," Yariko added.

            Tanna smiled slightly. "You think that's important?"

            "It probably is, we should tell them everything. We might be able to figure out what we are."

            "What other thing?" Noriko asked.

            Tanna shrugged. "I don't know, it's like…like you know yesterday? How windy it was? Well, I could feel every breeze."

            Sora and Noriko glanced at one another. "Wind?" Noriko asked.

            "And you?" Hikari asked Yariko.

            "I have some of Yamato's memories," she explained, "But during the night, I kind of felt the same way that Tanna did when the wind was blowing."

            "Darkness," Noriko muttered in shock.

            The three young women glanced at each other, then turned back to Tanna and Yariko. "Excuse us for a moment," Hikari smiled apologetically. She, Noriko and Sora walked into the living room, where their conversations could not be heard.

            "So, what do you guys think?" Sora asked.

            "I don't know," Noriko said, "If it's a trap, it's pretty confusing story, I mean, who else even knows about our powers like that? I mean, besides Miayag, Hiroshi and the others, and they wouldn't do something like this. GranDracmon and the Demon Lords are dead."

            "Juro knows," Sora frowned, "He killed Taichi and Yamato, is this why? So he could…could trick us like this?"

            Hikari frowned. "I don't know, I just feel like they're telling the truth."

            "Your too trusting," Sora frowned, "But…I think you're right. It just seems too complicated for a trap."

            Noriko sighed. "So what are we going to do with them?"

            "I don't know," Sora frowned, "They might not be here to hurt us, but we still don't really know what they are. And what…what Tanna said about her wind-connection…she looks like Taichi, but, doesn't she kind of look like Anna too?"

            Hikari nodded. "Yeah, and Yariko looks kind of like…like Yamato _and_ Noriko."

            The third woman glanced to Yariko, who was seated at the table, her arms crossed and an impatient expression on her face. "She doesn't look anything like me!"

            Hikari and Sora rolled their eyes. "Anyway," the redhead said, "Could they be clones or something? And if they are, who…created them?"

            "One thing at a time," Hikari said, "First of all, it's getting late, and they need a place to spend the night. Why don't you all stay here tonight?"

            "Oh no," Sora said, "We don't want to impose, right Noriko?"

            The other woman nodded. "Yeah, it was a nice offer, but…"

            "Oh please," she said, "Please."

            The glanced at one another. "What about our partners?" Noriko asked.

            "I guess they'll be fine," Sora said.

            Hikari grinned. "Great, me and Plotmon will get the other rooms ready."

111

Deep within the Hypnos building, Kurata sat within his laboratory, peering into his computer screen. He glanced over his shoulder at the large metal table in the center of the room, which contained the remains of one of the deceased duplicates of Taichi, a young man dressed in a blue t-shirt and a baggy pair of brown shorts. The corpse had been dissected, and the internal organs were laid in a smaller table to the side, but it was the sample of blood that was lying on the base of a microscope which was connected to his computer that kept his attention. As he stared at the lines of data being displayed, he rubbed his chin in puzzlement.

            "This doesn't make any sense at all," he mumbled, "How can this be? DNA doesn't just…just merge, not like this!"

            He jerked his head up when he heard his laboratory door slide open. He glanced over at the dissected body, then spun to the door entrance. The Hypnos Commander, Yamaki, had told him to discontinue this project after the escaping of the others, but he could not pass up this opportunity, so he had hope to continue this experiment in secret. He thought he would be safe late at night, but if anyone should see him, he would not only be fired, but possibly incarcerated. He anticipated the beginning of the end of his career, but when he saw two of the escapees that he had previously kept imprisoned within his cages, he anticipated the beginning of the end of his life.

            His eyes were wide and he could not speak. Yamag was standing in the rear, his arms crossed, while Black Agumon and Black Gabumon were standing at his side; Miach chuckled. "Hello, Dr. Kurata."

            The middle-age man glanced around his laboratory, wondering how quickly he could get to the gun in the desk drawer. Unfortunately, that was on the other side of the room, right past the door. He would never make it.

            He swallowed and stared at the intruders. "H…how did you get in here without anyone seeing you?"

            "It's after hours, doctor," Miach responded, "The halls were practically empty."

            "W…what shall I call you?"

            "I am Miach, and my partner, Black Agumon."

            "I'm Yamag, and this is Black Gabumon."

            Kurata nodded and placed his hands together. "Well, what can I do for you?"

            "We've got questions," Yamag said, "And we think you've got answers."

            "And…and what questions would those be?"

            Miach chuckled again. "Well, why don't we start with, who are we?"

            Kurata felt his rapidly beating heart start to calm. "I…I was just beginning to try to figure that out, but, I…I think I have a theory…"

            "Which is?"

            "Well, before I can give a conclusion, I'd like some more data, namely, a sample of your DNA."

            "What would that tell you?" Yamag asked.

            "Nothing, or everything."

            Miach glanced at Yamag, then nodded. The two humans held out their arms. Kurata nodded, and began to smile. "Allow me to gather a sample."

            After extracting samples of their blood, he placed them under his microscope and examined his findings on the computer monitor. The others stared over his shoulder at the lines of numbers and words being displayed: the letters A, T, G, and C along with a number behind them. "What exactly are we looking at?" Yamag asked.

            "Your DNA sequence," he said, "Here." He pressed a few keys and the lines of text changed to a familiar DNA helix. He pointed to the sequence on the left, "This is Miach's, and the other one is Yamag's. Now, watch this.

He entered commands into the keyboard. Yamag's sequence vanished and Miach's moved to a smaller area on the bottom. Two more sets of DNA information appeared on the monitor. After entering more commands, half of the DNA on the right and half of the DNA on the left merged together into the center of the screen, creating an exact duplicate of Miach's sequence.

"What does it mean?" Miach demanded.

            "The sequence that was on the left was from Taichi Yagami, and the other sequence was from Chihi Miayag."

            "Miayag?" Yamag asked.

            "Yes, I was able to get her DNA when she broke in here the other day and fought one of our operatives. I think she cut her lower leg, but it doesn't really matter. Miach, your DNA sequence is a perfect merging of Yagami and Miayag's sequence, and Yamag, your DNA is from Yamato Ishida and Miayag's as well."

            The two Chosen glanced at each other. "Go on," Yamag said.

            Kurata nodded. "Right, there is more. As you know, four of the other didn't survive. After doing more testing, I've determined that one contained the combined DNA of Yagami and Maria Silvano, another Yagami and Keeya Genet, while the other two were Ishida's, one with his DNA and Lynna Jeffry and another with Iduia Ramiro; and with your DNA being combined with Miayag's, I think I can surmise that the others have the DNA of Yagami and Ishida combined with: Sora Takenouchi, Anna Danika, Catherine Rupert and Noriko Kawada."

            "Very interesting," Yagami said, "But what does that really mean?"

            "I'm not sure," he said, "But, DNA does not combined like that, I think it occurred when each of the Daughters of the First gave their power to Yagami and Ishida when they defeated GranDracmon, but when the Fallen Chosen killed them, that DNA somehow was combined."

            "How do you know this?" Miach asked.

            "Hypnos was created to oversee this digital phenomenon, we've been monitoring the Chosen for a long time now, but that's beside the point right now. I believe that the reason that the DNA combined, is because it was data, which was easier to form together."

            "Because they were fused with their partners, into Omegamon X?" Black Agumon askd.

            Kurata nodded. "Precisely. If we could find a way to change DNA into data, then it could be combined together perfectly. The implications to genetic engineering are astounding, but we need a way to turn DNA into data, the Digital Gate is the key."

            "Where do we find one?" Yamag asked.

            "That, unfortunately is the problem. Finding one existing in nature could take ages, we need to build one."

            Miach smirked. "When do we start?"

111

            The guests in Hikari's apartment had spent a restless night. Sora and Noriko had decided to spend the night in Taichi's room, which Hikari had not yet begun to clean. Just being in that room had proved to be too much for Sora, and she had to move to the living room to sleep on the couch. Noriko had joined her. Tanna, Yariko and the infants spent the night in the guest room, which had previously been Maria's room, while Hikari was, of course, in her own room. Each of the females had not sleep well, as their minds flooded with the questions of the mysterious guests. When dawn finally arrived, they were all eager to stop pretending to sleep.

            While Hikari, Sora and Noriko were friends, they were not so comfortable around Tanna and Noriko, so breakfast was a quiet, uncomfortable time. Hikari was hesitant about leaving her guests in her apartment while she was at work, even though she would never say so; Sora offered to stay, and Noriko even offered to bring Yariko with her back to her apartment. She felt more relaxed, and finally left for work. Noriko and Yariko left a few minutes later. Sora had to go back to her apartment to gather her art supplies, and she even brought Piyomon back with her.

            Tanna was busy taking care of one of the infants; Yariko had taken the other. Sora watched the other young woman rocking the crying baby in her arms, and the redhead could not help it, but she saw Taichi holding his child, which only made her sad.

            Tanna noticed the redheaded woman as she sat at the kitchen table, staring at her large sketch pad. She walked over and glanced over her shoulder at the design, which was a pair of low rider jeans that was flared near the ankles. "That looks really beautiful."

            Sora blinked. "Oh, thanks."

            Tanna smiled. "You're a really good artist, you know? I know that one day everyone'll be wearing clothes that you design."

            Sora began to blush. "R…really?"

            She nodded. "Sure." She stared at the image for another moment. "Wow, I really can't believe how good you are! I can't believe I never noticed it before, even when you used to draw back in school."

            She chuckle. "Well, that was just in my notebook because I was bored in cl…" She trailed off as she realized just what Tanna had said.  "_Y…you_ remember?"

            "Well, yeah, we were friends before we…" Her eyes opened in shock and she gasped. "Oh Sora, I…I'm sorry, I…it's like…."

            "You have Taichi's memories, yeah, I understand," she said.

            Tanna sighed. "I'm sorry if this is…weird for you, but _I_ don't even know what I really am!"

            The redhead shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, I'm just…so confused…"

            "Yeah, I understand, but…I just want you to know that I…really…_really_, loved you. Er, I mean _Taichi_, or, the Taichi part of me, but that means I'm part of him…" She smiled sheepishly, "I'm not making a lot of sense, am I?"

            Sora chuckled, then glanced at the baby. She smiled. "We don't even know what his name is, do we?"

            Taana shrugged slightly. "I was just gonna call him Jr."

            "Taichi Jr? Nice name, not very original, but nice."

111

            Miayag had spent the night in her hotel room, but had awakened shortly before dawn to give herself plenty of time to reach the building overlooking the Hypnos main building. She and Plotmon had taken up their position on the roof, and watched with careful caution. They had seen Yamaki enter the building at the begging of the day, and were now watching to make certain that he did not escape their watch.

            Plotmon yawned in boredom. "This is taking fore-ever!"

            "I will not leave until he has," Miayag responded, slightly annoyed.

            The Mammal digimon sighed as she stared at the building. "How can they not know that we're here?"

            "I would assume that their surveillance does not extend to neighboring buildings," she replied.

            Plotmon felt her stomach grumble and she was about to ask about lunch, when she saw her partner rise to her feet. "We're finally leaving?"

            Miayag nodded. "Yamaki is on the move. Come!"

            Once again, the Priestess and her partner jumped across building roofs as they followed Yamaki on the street below. They once again traveled via the subway system to the section of Tokyo known as Shinbashi. "This is where he went the other day," Plotmon said, "Doesn't that seem weird?"

            "He may live here for all we know," Miayag responded as they continued to leap across rooftops, "Of course, it is lunchtime, he may be meeting someone. His wife perhaps? His lover?"

             Plotmon nodded and watched Yamaki as he maneuvered through the crowded city streets. Eventually he arrived at a large building nestled on a side street. Young children were running through a playground, bouncing on the swings and jungle gym while an older woman watched. "What the heck kind of place is this?"

            "It is a school," Miayag replied, "I am having a foreboding feeling…"

            They stood on an adjacent roof and stared at him carefully. He was standing on the street, glancing at his watch. "He's just standing there," the Mammal digimon said.

            "He's waiting for someone," Miayag said, narrowing her eyes, "And…and I think I know who…"

            Plotmon noticed the young woman as well as she ran from the building. She met Yamaki in the street, and the two hugged each other. The Mammal digimon had to blink to make certain that she had seen correctly, but she had. She turned to Miayag. "Megumi…?"

            The Priestess could only stare at the embracing couple. "Yamaki's lover…is Hikari."

            "I don't believe this!" Plotmon gasped, "She sold us out!"

            "How dare you!" Miayag gasped, "_Juushi_ wouldn't have ever done anything like that!"

            "Then why is she with Yamaki?" Plotmon demanded.

            The Priestess sighed. "I would believe that she does not realize what he truly is. We will wait until she had left work, then we will speak to her."

            "Finally," the Mammal digimon sighed, "Hikari's a pretty good cook, and I really want a home cooked meal."

111

            Inside of Kurata's laboratory, the Hypnos scientist was once again studying lines of text and data that was displayed on his computer screen. Behind him, Miach was seated in an office chair, lazily tossing a plastic beaker into the air and catching it in his hands, Yamag was seated atop a metal table, back leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Black Agumon and Black Gabumon were sleeping on the floor.

            Miach caught the beaker one more time before growling. "Hey, Poindexter, are you done yet?"

            "I'm still examining the data…."

            "Data? What fucking data?"

            The middle-aged man remained calm. "I am trying to determine how your partners are able to use the energy from the Daughters of the First that you absorbed to evolve. I need actual battle data."

            Miach blinked. "What does that mean?"

            "I need you to go and fight with someone, anyone."

            He grinned maliciously. "And I know exactly who…"

111

            Noriko, Sora and their digimon were once again walking on the sidewalks of Shinbashi. They had become accustomed to the stares they received from others, not from their digimon partners, as Piyomon was pretending to be Sora's backpack, and Plotmon was in Noriko's arms as a stuffed animal. No, it was the stares they received from their infection of the Second Black Death. Sora had lost her left eye and her left leg. She was now walking with her crutches again, but the two young women had just come from a sculptor's, who had taken the first mold to create a glass eye. Noriko's skin, however, was still missing large sections across her body, and while she was usually able to hide them with a form of body make-up that Jyou had given her, which she used during her shift at work, she had chosen today not to wear it.

            They kept their gaze straight forward, as their mysterious guests were walking in front of them. Tanna was holding Taichi Jr. in her arms, while Yariko was carrying the other baby, which she had, oddly enough, named Yamato Jr. Their two partners, Yuki Agumon and Psychemon were too large to pretend to be stuffed animals, especially with the two young women having their hands full with the babies, so they walked at their side, disguised in trench coats, and they were feeling the rays of the hot sun.

Noriko sighed. "I don't know about them."

Sora stared at her. "I mean, come on, you spent the entire day with Yariko, do you still think they're trying to trick us?"

            She grumbled. "I guess not…but…are we really sure that Tanna's Taichi with Anna's wind power and Yariko is Yamato with my darkness power?"

            "Didn't you feel Tanna? Didn't she feel like Anna? And didn't Yariko feel like…well you?"

            "Just a little…and I felt something from Yariko, but I don't know how you feel darkness, I've never had to feel my own power outside of my body before. But how are we going to prove this?"

            Sora shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they're someone's mad science experiment. Remember the Demon Lords? They were just like me, Taichi and the others. Maybe we can do genetic testing or something."

            "Jyou?"

            "He'd be our best bet." She sighed, "Man, I really miss Koushiro and Miyako. They could figure out anything."

            "You sound like Taichi," she muttered, then frowned, "I sorry Sora."

            Before the redhead could respond, the two young women arrived at the main doors of Hikari's apartment building, and they saw a shocking sight, two young men standing before the glass portal. Even though they knew that what they saw could not be true, deep down, they still hoped.

            "Taichi?" Sora gasped/

            "Yamto?" Noriko screamed.

            "It can't be!" Piyomon warned, "Sora, that can't be real!"

            "Noriko!" Plotmon called, "Noriko!"

            The two young men stepped forward, grinning as they did. "Hello Sora," the brown-haired male said.

            The redhead was almost in a trance, "Taichi," she said, limping forward.

            "Sora!" Tanna suddenly screamed, "That's not Taichi!"

            She heard her screams, and blinked her remaining eye a few times, and she was able to regain her senses. She stared at the man before her, and her overwhelming hope and happiness was quickly replaced with rage. "You…who are you?! Why do you look like Taichi?"

            Before he could answer, Yariko interrupted him. "Those are the others ones that escaped with us."

            The Taichi-duplicate bowed. "I am Miach, this is Yamag, I believe you can guess what our partners are called."

            The two dark-skinned digimon bowed as well.

            Sora and Noriko both smiled, but their partners were still wary. "Well," Noriko said, "I guess you guys don't have any answers about…what you are, do you?"

            Yamag shook his head. "Sorry, no."

            Yariko stared at them. "Takuya and Koji left right after you, did you see them?"

            Yamag chuckled. "We may have had a…run in with them."

            "What does that mean?"

            They both chuckled. "Uh oh," Noriko said, her eyes narrowing, "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

            Both young men whipped out their gold-colored digivices. "Now, evolve!"

            "Black Agumon evolve to Metal Tyrannomon!"

            "Black Gabumon evolve to Cerberumon!"

            "They skipped the Adult level!" Piyomon gasped, "How could they do that?"

            "I don't recognize them," Plotmon said, "Are they Megas?"

            "No," Piymon said, "They're Fully Evolved."

            "Yeah, well, you were wrong before, remember Raptrodramon? You said he was Fully Evolved!"

            Piymon would have smacked her wing into the Mammal's head, if she had not lost it due to the Second Black Death.

            Noriko and Sora both glanced at each other. "You felt that too, right?"

            "Felt what?" Tanna asked.

            "Something we haven't felt in over five months," Noriko said, "The powers of the other Daughters of the First."

            "What?" Plotmon gasped, "Who?"

            "We can't really say, it's all jumbled together, but its definitely from the others."

            "But how can that be?"

            "Enough talk!" Metal Tyrannomon growled, "If you don't want to be torn to shreds, then prepare to fight!"

            Tanna and Yariko shifted the crying babies in their arms in order to grab their digivices, which began to glow in light of dark blue and black.

"Yuki Agumon evolve to Allomon!"

            "Psychemon evolve to Butterflymon!"

            Noriko raised her eyebrow. "Butterflymon? If Yariko's power is mine, where the hell did _Butterflymon_ come from?"

            "Shut up and evolve me, quick!" Plotmon shouted, "They need help!"

            "Yeah yeah," she muttered, grabbing her dark-colored digivce. Once the device was in her hand, Plotmon was able to evolve through her Adult form of Black Tailmon to her Fully Evolved form of Ladydevimon.

            Noriko was grinning, but then noticed that Piyomon had not yet evolved. She twisted her head and saw that Sora was only staring at the two young men. "Why are we fighting?" she asked, "I don't understand."

            "Sora!" Noriko shouted, "Piyomon needs to evolve!"

            The redhead nodded slowly and reached for her red-colored digivice.  Piyomon quickly evolved to her Fully Evolved form of Garudamon and joined Ladydevimon in the sky.

            Yamag paled. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

            "I don't care!" Miach shouted, "If we kill them, we'll be our own beings! No 'other selves' no memories, we'll be free! Metal Tyrannomon, kill them now!"

            The Cyborg charged forward, roaring with rage. Allomon jumped in front and caught MetalTyranomon's hands within her own. The two dinosaurs became locked in a power struggle, each attempting to overpower the other, yet, the simple Dinosaur was easily overpowered by the cybernetic might of Metal Tyrannomon. He threw her into the ground, and was about to continue his assault, when Garudamon fired her Shadow Wing into Metal Tyranomon's side. He was not harmed, but he grabbed the fallen Allomon and flung her into Garudamon, knocking them both into the ground. He stomped over, ready to attack, but Allomon screamed, "Dino Burst!" A blast of fiery heat erupted from her mouth and struck the Cyborg digimon in the face, knocking him back.

            Unfortunately, as soon as Allomon and Garudamon jumped back into the air, Metal Tyrannomon pointed his right hand forward and fired a massive missile from the palm. "Giga Destroyer II!"

            They opened their eyes fright, and Garudamon attempted to fly out of the way, but the projectile struck Allomon directly in the chest, causing enough of an explosion to throw Garudamon into a tailspin, and she crashed into the ground. Allomon was completely down, but the bird man rose to her feet to continue the battle, but before she could do anything, Metal Tyrannomon shot over and grabbed her throat with his left hand and began to pound her face with her right fist. Despite Sora's screams of protest, Metal Tyrannomon continued his assault until Garudamon's face was bloodied and bruise, even her beak was cracked. The Cyborg digimon growled in delight and threw her into the ground.

            Meanwhile, Cerberumon's three heads were snapping and growling, snarling and drooling as they stared at Butterflymon and Ladydevimon. The two females however in the air, simply waiting, when Cerberumon leapt forward, his right mouth snapping at Ladydevimon, while the right most mouth attacked Bufferflymon. She pointed her claws directly at the head's eyes and fired a sticky substance from the tips. "Sweet Honey Straw!" she shouted, firing honey directly into his eyes. The right head began to whiter in pain, swinging from side to side. While he was temporarily blinded, the Nature Spirit shoved her claws into his eyes, completely blinding him. With one head removed, now only two remained.

            "Nice job," Ladydevimon grinned, "I'm really impressed."

            "Thanks," Butterflymon buzzed.

            The right most head hung limply while the middle head and the left head growled. "That strategy isn't going to work twice! And with two heads left, I'm more then a match for you! Hell Fire!"

            From his two remaining heads, he spewed out streams of green flames, enveloping the two female digimon. "Hell Fire!"

            "Ladydevimon!" Noriko shouted.

            "Butterflymon!" Yariko screamed.

            The two females had completely vanished, and their partners feared the worse. They both breathed a sigh of relief when Ladydevimon's Darkness Wave dissolved the flame and also flapped around Cerberumon's two heads, blocking his vision. Ladydevimon's hand twisted into a sharp spear, and she shot forward, aiming for the eye on the middle head, but the left head whipped around and grabbed her by the leg and flung her into Butterflymon. While the two females became tangled, Cerberumon leapt into the air and tackled them to the ground.

            "I don't get this!" Tanna shrieked, "How are they so strong?"

            Noriko glanced over at Sora, who nodded. "Yeah, I feel it too…"

            "Feel what?" Yariko shouted, "What?"

Before Sora could answer, she then suddenly felt something that caused her entire body to shiver as a massive chill ran up her spine. She turned to her best friend. "Noriko, you felt that…right? Please tell me you felt that!"

            Noriko nodded, her voice was quivering. "Y…yeah, I felt that all right." The feeling she was experiencing was indeed that same feeling that Sora had felt: the feeling of the sun shining down upon your face on a bright sunny day, the power of Light.

            "What's going on?" Taana shouted.

            "Catherine," Sora answered.

            "Catherine? But isn't she dead?"

            "Then what are we feeling?" Sora snapped, "And what's that other one?"

            Noriko focused on the second feeling, the sensation of heat across her entire body. "Sora…I don't know how to say this but, that's _you._"

            "Me?!"

            "Yeah, that's how your power, the power of Fire, feels to me."

            The two young women stopped and began to glance around, almost in a panic state. Once the battle had started, the citizens had instantly vacated, screaming in terror, the battlefield was empty except for them, yet they could not focus on the two other powers that should only belong to the Daughters of the First. The Power of Fire was Sora's, and the Power of Light belonged to Catherine Rupert, the Chosen from France, but she had died battling the Horsemen of GranDracmon. They both cautiously glanced from side to side, nervously scanning the people as they past. Suddenly, a bolt of feeling exploded from behind. They twisted around and saw two young men standing before them, one wearing a bandana wrapped around his head, and another with a pair of goggles. Before they could even speak, a giant orange dinosaur and a large, bipedal canine digimon leapt over them and tackled MetalTyrannomon and Cerberumon to the ground.

            "What the hell?" Noriko gasped.

            Tanna and Yariko both smiled as the two young men ran to join their partners. "Don't worry," Taana grinned, "That's Takuya and Koji, they're with us."

             Sora stared at the goggle-wearer. "And he's got the Katana of Hidokoro."

            "And the Shotguns of Lucien," Noriko said, "That would explain why we felt Fire and Light."

            Once Risegreymon had kicked Metal Tyrannomon off of Allomon and Garudamon, he pointed his large revolver arm and quickly fired three bursts of metal bullets that struck him directly in the chest. At such close range, he stumbled backwards and fell onto his rear, causing a large tremor that nearly knocked the others to the ground. Sora, having been using her crutches, was easily thrown-off balance and began to fall. Takuya charged to her side and caught her.

            "Are you all right, Sora?" he asked.

            The redhead stared into his eyes. "Y…yeah…"

            The tremor also caused Cerberumon to stumble. MachGoagoamon pointed his cannons directly at the massive canine's two heads and screamed. "Howling Cannon!" He began to scream as loud as he could, sending the sound waves through the large weapons on his back and directly into Cerberumon's heads. The sound disoriented him and he began to stumble, MachGaogamon finished his attack with his Winning Knuckle technique, knocking the large digimon into the ground.

            "Hell yeah!" Takuya laughed, "You've got nothing on us, yeah!"

            Miach stared at his mysterious 'other,' but instead of screaming with rage, he simply smiled. "Well, I guess it's about time to head out, I think the boss's got all he needs."

            "Boss?" Koji gasped, "What boss?"

            "You think we're that stupid?" Yamag asked, "We're not telling you anything!"

            "You think you're leaving?" Takuya shouted.

            Miach shrugged. "We can continue if you want, but we're in a pretty populated area, you never know if one of these buildings could get attacked by accident…"

            Takuya narrowed his eyes. "You bastard."

            "Your choice."

            He sighed. "Fine."

            Miach grinned and nodded to Yamag. "Let's get out of here." Their two partners regressed to their Child forms, and the foursome quickly ran from the battlefield.

            Takuya sighed again. "Come on, let's get out of here before that organization finds us."

111

            A few hours later, Jyou was waiting outside of Hikari's apartment. The apartment's owner opened the door a moment later, and the young man walked inside. He was greeted by Sora and Noriko, who were waiting in the hall. "Hey guys, I came as soon as I got your message, but who needs a paternity test?" He glanced at Sora.

            The redhead shook her head. "I know who…I mean, I don't need one."

            Jyou nodded, then looked over at Noriko, who shook her head. "It can't be Hikari, right?"

            "Jyou!" the younger woman sighed, "It's not for any of us, and we don't need a paternity test, just a DNA test."

            "All right, who needs a DNA test?"

            Noriko mentioned over her shoulder to the living room, where Jyou noticed a group of familiar-looking young adults in the living room: two young men, two girls with two babies in their arms. They were seated on the couch, watching television, so they could not hear them speaking in the hallway. "Who are they?" he asked.

            Sora limped into the room on her crutches. "This is Takuya, Koji, Tanna, Yariko, Taichi Jr. and Yamato Jr."

            Jyou gasped. "What?"

            Noriko gave a slight grin. "Oh, it gets weirder, Tanna and Takuya think they're Taichi, and Koji and Yariko think they're Yamato."

            The young man had to squeeze his eyes for a moment. "Okay, but…"

            "It's a long story," Sora said, "But just trust us."

            He nodded. "All right, what do you need?"

            "Can you give them a DNA test or something to see if they're really Taichi and Yamato?" Hikari asked.

            He thought for a moment. "I can take samples of their DNA, no problem, but unless we have a sample of Taichi and Yamato's DNA, there'll be nothing to compare it with."

            Hikari thought for a moment. "Well, I'm his sister, can you use my DNA as a comparison?"

            "Normally, yes. Your DNA is probably the closet anyone's DNA is going to be to Taichi's, since you both got your DNA from the same place, your parents."

            "What do you mean, normally?"

            He gave a slight smile. "That kind of genetic testing is…well…pretty much beyond me. I'm not a geneticist; that kind of test would need to be sent to a special lab."

            "And probably coast a fortune, right?" Noriko asked.

            Jyou nodded. "And it could be forever before they even get to it."

            Sora frowned. "Great." She blinked. "Wait, suppose…suppose you had a person's DNA, and you wanted to find out who their father was, but you didn't have the father's DNA, but you had the mother's, could you just…I don't know, eliminate the mother's DNA and then have the father's?"

            Jyou blinked for a moment. "Uh, that's…." He shook his head, "I don't know. We'd need to ask a geneticist."

            Hikari stared at the redhead. "Sora, where would you get a child with my brother as the father?"

            Sora gasped for a moment and placed a hand over her mouth. Noriko looked anxious as well. "Sora," Hikari said, "Are you…?"

            She nodded. "Yeah, I'm pregnant."

            The younger woman was silent for a moment; she found that she could not ask the question she wanted, so she instead asked another. "Am…am I going to be an…an…"

            "An aunt?" she asked, "Yeah. Your brother was the only one that I…."

            Despite the sadness that clouded their minds, Hikari hugged Sora tightly. "Wow," she said, "I…I don't know what to say."

            The silence was broken by a female voice. "I'm gonna be a father? That's so great!"

            They turned and saw that Tanna was standing before them. When she saw the expression on Sora's face, she frowned. "Oh, sorry, Sora, I…I'm…"

            The redhead nodded, closing her eyes. "I know…I know…"

            Hikari frowned. "What about those other two? Miach and Yamag? They looked…well, they looked almost _exactly_ like Taichi and Yamato."

            "But so do we," Koji pointed out, "But we can't let those two run lose, right?"

            "Then it would be best if we found them at once."

            The congregation spun around and saw a young woman standing in the doorway. Hikari grinned and embraced the other woman tightly. "Megumi!"

            Megumi Seisou, better known Chihi Miayag, smiled as she returned the embrace. "Hello _Juushi_, it is good to see you once more."

            Hikari pulled back, then frowned. "You know about Taichi, right?"

            She sighed. "Yes, unfortunately."

            The other woman forced herself to smile once more, then mentioned to the living room. "Come on, let's all at least sit down."

As the group moved into the living room, Hikari began to ask her cousin questions. "Where have you been all this time?"

            "I had returned to America," the Priestess responded, "To continue my education, philosophy."

            "That would really suit you," she smiled, "I can see you as a philosopher, but why didn't you ever try to at least let us know you were okay?"

            She frowned. "I felt…I felt that perhaps, it would have been best if we parted ways, so you would not feel obligated to…to put the past behind us."

            The slightly older woman frowned. "You are my cousin, no matter what you did in your past, we're still family, and I still care for you."

            She smiled and nodded. "Maybe we should discuss this…situation that has arisen."

            "Let me ask you something," Noriko said, pointing to the mysterious duplicates, "Did you free them?"

            "In a way," she responded, smiling slightly, "It was my intention, but during a battle I had inside of Hypnos, I may have set them free entirely by accident."

            "But they were there, right?"

            She nodded. "Yes."

            Noriko shrugged slightly and glanced at the mysterious women. "I guess that validates your story, no offense."

            "No problem," Yariko smiled, "I would have been just as cautious."

            Miayag nodded. "From what Kurata was saying to Y…" She glanced at Hikari, "…was saying to the Hypnos commander, these two, and the others, were formed from the data of Taichi and Yamato after they were ki…after they were defeated by Juro."

            "But do you know what they are?" Jyou asked.

            She shook her head. "No."

            "Actually," Sora said, "Maybe we have an idea."

            The others were staring intently, so she continued. "Um…Tanna said she felt some kind of connection to wind, and Yariko felt a connection to the night, to darkness."

            Miayag raised her eyebrow. "Go on please."

            Sora took a deep breath, "Well, this is what Noriko and me think, but…um…we think that maybe Tanna is some kind of…clone or something, of Taichi and Anna, and Yariko is Yamato and Noriko."

            The others, including the two young women in question, blinked in surprise. "That's what you think we are?" Tanna asked, "But…how?"

            Miayag began to lightly rub her chin. "If that were true…then perhaps it was when we Daughters of the First gave them our energy to form Omegamon X, and since they were merged with their partners when they were killed, their data could have separated."

            "But…why?" Hikari asked.

            She shrugged. "That we may never discover."

            Tanna began to pace the floor. "Okay…okay…if…if I'm Taichi and Anna, and Yariko is Yamato and Noriko….then…then what about the others?"

            Noriko spoke up. "Takuya's Taichi and Sora, and Koji is Yamato and Catherine."

            "And there's more," Sora said, "Noriko and me both felt more powers from Miach and Yamag."

            "What powers?" Jyou asked.

            The two young women glanced at each other. "Well," Noriko said, "Miach felt like Keeya and Maria and Yamag felt like Iduia and Lynna."

            "Yeah," Tanna said, looking at the others, "Remember what that Kurata guy said? That when those others died, he thinks their power, or energy or whatever, was trying to be absorbed by the two Digitamas, what if Miach and Yamag absorbed them instead?"

            Takuya chuckled slightly. "That would explain how they evolved to the Fully Evolved level, when they fought us the first time."

            "Wait a second," Yariko said, "That still doesn't tell us _who_ Miach and Yamag are."

            Miayag sighed. "I fear they may have come from me. Remember, I gave energy to form Omegamon X as well."

            "That seems probable," Noriko rolled her eyes.

            "What about the babies?" Hikari asked.

            The room fell silent for a full minute before Miayag gave a suggestion. "What if they represent Taichi and Yamato, at their most innocent? Before all…life experiences, before all external power?"

            "What?" Sora gasped.

            "Suppose we look at this situation like this: not only do these duplicates posses a Daughter of the First merged with Taichi or Yamato, what if they also posses a different aspect of their personality? Tanna may be Taichi and Anna, but also Taichi's feminine, compassionate side? And the same would hold true for Yariko. Takuya and Koji would represent their heroic side, and…" she frowned, "Miach and Yamag may represent greed, pride or anger, which I certainly possessed."

            Hikari reached over and lightly patted her cousin on the shoulder. Miayag took a deep breath. "However, that is only one aspect of this new…conflict. The other being Tatsuo Juro."

            The others all nodded in agreement.

            "He is far stronger then all of us put together," she continued, "I feel that Taichi and Yamato could have defeated him, had they had the chance to form Omegamon X."

            "That makes sense," Jyou said, "Omegamon X was probably the strongest digimon that was ever formed."

            "That we are aware of," Miayag added, "There is still many mysterious of the Digital World that have yet to be explained…even if it is gone. But, we may be able to defeat him if the rest of you possessed Holy Weapons as well. Takuya, Koji, and myself possess the Katana of Fire, Shotguns of Lucien, and the Staff of Yuushi. If we could acquire the other weapons, if the rest of you were able to evolve to the Mega level, then we may have a chance."

            "But we don't know where the other weapons are," Jyou protested.

            "That is not entirely accurate," she said, "Remember when the Flail of Chance fell from the remains of the Digital World? It was thought to be an earthquake? There was two other environmental phenomenons that occurred that day: Hokkaido and Shikoku Island. I believe that two more weapons have fallen there."

            "That's a great idea!" Hikari smiled, "If we had more weapons, if we were stronger, then we could beat him!"

            "What about…about them?" Noriko asked, mentioning to the duplicates, "Can we…I don't know…refuse them or something?"

            Miayag stared at Noriko. "I know that what I have done to you is beyond forgiveness, but I swear to you, I will do whatever it takes, to bring Yamato back to you."

            "Sounds great to me," Takuya grinned, "Let's do it!"

            Miayag placed her hand on Hikari's hand. "There is something I would like to speak to you about in private."

            The other young woman blinked. "Uh…sure…Um, we can speak in my room."

            They walked into her room and shut the door. Plotmon X was on the bed, sleeping. She raised her head and her eyes lit open. "M…Miayag?"

            She bowed. "Hello, Plotmon X, it is good to see you once more." She stepped aside to reveal her own Plotmon, who had been behind her legs. She jumped onto the bed and the two Plotmons began to tackle each other in playfulness.

            Miayag smiled at the displayed, then turned to her cousin. "_Juushi_, tell me, your…boyfriend…"

            Hikari smiled. "Mitsuo."

            "Yes, Mitsuo. W…what does he do? What is his…profession?"

            "Oh, he's just a computer technician for the government."

            She raised her eyebrow. "Really? Government agencies?"

            "Yeah, I guess."

            She began to think. _"Maybe the man speaking to Kurata wasn't Hikari's lover, but Mitsuo could have been there to repair computers, and that was who we saw leaving Hypnos. Yet, I must be certain._"

            She took a deep breath. Hikari stared at her. "What is it?"

            _"Juushi_, what I say to you now, please believe that I am only trying to help you."

            Hikari nodded slowly. "Yes…"

            "As you know, Hypnos took the remains of Taichi and Yamato, and I entered that building, so I believe I know of what I speak...Plotmon and I both observed the Hypnos commander in Hypnos, and we followed him to…to the school at which you work."

            Hikari began to feel her heart beat faster. "And…and you're telling me that…"

            "What is Mitsuo's family name?"

            "Y…yamaki…"

            Miayag sighed deeply. "The Commander of Hypnos…is named Yamaki."

            Hikari felt her the floor cave away beneath her. "This….this can't be! This can't be!"

            "I am sorry," Miayag said, "Truly sorry."

            Hikari was silent for a moment, but then she ran from her room. She passed the confused expressions of the others as she ran from the apartment.

111

            Once Miach and Yamag reached the Hypnos building, the Yamato-dissociation turned to the other. "Why the hell did we have to leave? We could have won!"

            Miach tapped the speaker that was in his ear. "Kurata said he had enough data. Once Takuya and Koji arrived, he said he got the data he needed about the weapons. He said he figured out how we might be able to use other weapons."

            Yamag frowned. "Why are we doing what he says anyway?"

            "Because right now we need him." He sighed, "But where are we gonna find those Holy Weapons anyway?"

            "Maybe I can help in that regards."

            The twisted around to the dark alley that was across the street…the same alley that was to the side of the same building that Miayag had used to spy on the government building. From the dark shadows came an elderly man wearing a trench jacket. He bowed. "My name is Tatsuo Juro, and I am a Chosen that has Fallen. I think we have much to discuss."

111

            Mitsuo Yamaki glanced up when he heard knocking on his apartment door. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" he called. He had been eating dinner while watching television, so he needed to place his bowl on the coffee table before he was even able to stand. That extra ten seconds proved to be too long, because the knocking continued.

            He ran to the door and flung it open. He was truly surprised when he saw his girlfriend standing on the other side. She was panting, and her cheeks were red. "H…Hikari!" he gasped, standing aside to let her enter, but she stood in place. He was taken back slightly, but he continued, "Did…did you run over here? What's wrong?"

            She stared at him. "Are you in charge of Hypnos?"

            He blinked. "W…what are you talking about?"

            "My c…" She hesitated for a moment, "Miayag told me you were in command."

            "Miayag?" he gasped.

            Her eyes narrowed. "How do you know that name?"

            "How do you?" he asked, "She is a criminal!"

            "She's my cousin!" she shouted, "You _are_ in charge of Hypnos, aren't you?"

            He was silent. She had caught him, she had tricked him, and he had walked right into it. He took a deep breath. "Yes, I am."

            "You've lied to me all this time!" she shouted, "How…how could you?"

            "It's….it was classified…"

            "I told you all about the Digital World! And you used all that information against me and my friends!"

            "No, that's not true!"

            "You stole my brother's remains for some….some _fucking _experiment!"

            Yamaki dropped the television remote, which he had still been holding. He had never heard Hikari ever swear before, but to use quite possibly the worse single swear word, told him that she was very upset, and that simple words were not going to make this better. Yet, he was going to try.

            "Hikari, I'm sorry…"

            He went to embrace her, but she twisted away. "And what about me?" she asked. He could tell that she was beginning to cry, "What about our relationship? Were you lying about that?"

            "No!" he said, "Hikari, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me!"

            She twisted back around, tears streaming down her cheek. "How can I believe you? How can I trust you?"

            She sniffled. "I can't do this…I _won't_ do this! I'm not going to give into my feelings and forgive you, I'm not going to fold this time! Every other time that someone hurt me, no matter what, I always forgave them, except for Myotismon. What he did to Tailmon, what he did to Wizardmon, what he did to my family and friends, all because of me!"

            She stared directly into his eyes, "This is the same. I endangered, I exposed, my family and friends, all of my secrets, all of _their_ secrets, to you because I thought I could trust you, but you used all of that for some secret government agency! I won't forgive, not this time!"

            He reached for her, but she began to run. "Hikari…"

            "Don't ever come near me again!" she shouted, running towards the elevator, but then stopped. She turned back around and ran back to him. She pointed her finger at him. "And you listen to me, if you come after any of my friends because of this…" She stared at him directly in the eyes, "I…will…kill…you…" She twisted back and ran, tears pouring from her eyes like a torrent.

            She dove into the elevator and collapsed to the floor, sobbing loudly.

_Dissociation of the Soul hath ended, The Weapons of the Gods now begin…_

Author's note: I apologize if this chapter is sort of confusing, but sometimes it's hard to explain something if all the characters don't know what's going on.

            Hikari's behavior at the end, especially her last line to Yamaki, are definitely out of character for her, but she feels that she just gave away her friends to the government. Because of her, they know who the Chosen really are, so she's…well, freaking out, to put it lightly.

            Until next time.


	6. Weapons of the Gods: Chapter 1

_My name is…Takuya, but not really. It's complicated beyond belief. From what I'm able to understand, Taichi Yagami and Yamato Ishida fought Tatsuo Juro, the Fallen Chosen, and he…well…killed them. Their data got all…discombobulated, and formed a bunch of different people, based on the powers of the Daughters of the First that they absorbed and a different part of their soul. Apparently, I'm Taichi's heroic side, with Sora Takenouchi's Power of Fire._

_We were captured by this organization called Hypnos, and this scientist guy, Kurata, wanted to experiment on us, but Miayag freed us. Me and Koji-Yamato with Catherine's power and his heroic side-fought Miach and Yamag, the greedy and vegenful sides of Taichi and Yamato with Miayag's power, it's so confusing isn't it?_

_Anyway, Tanna and Yariko, the feminine sides of Taichi and Yamato, with Anna and Noriko's powers, and me and Koji met up with Sora, Noriko and the others. Miayag even showed up, but she has some surprising news, Hikari's boyfriend, is the leader of Hypnos!_

-----------------------------------------------------

_Digimon Gog_

_The Weapons of the Gods:_

_Chapter 1_

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Plotmon X was the first one to realize that Hikari had returned home. Her apartment was filled with the 'Splinters" of Taichi and Yamato, as well as Miayag, Sora and Noriko. The entire apartment fell silent as all eyes turned to the young woman standing in the hall. Plotmon X ran to her. "Hikari, where were you? We were all worried!"

She smiled as best she could, but everyone could see her puffy eyes and bright red cheeks, she had been crying. "S…sorry about t…that…"

Sora limped forward. "Hikari…?"

The younger woman took a deep breath. "Sora, Noriko, I…I am so sorry…"

"For what?" Sora asked.

Hikari forced herself to laugh slightly. "Well, as it turns out, Mitsuo's in charge of that organization that took Taichi and Yamto's remains."

"What?" Noriko gasped.

"Yeah, so…I did tell him about us. So…you may be in danger, and once again it's all because of me..heh…" As she spoke, her smile vanished. Sora made a motion to embrace her, "Hikari…:

She began to sniffle. "P…please, y…you are all invited to stay the night. E…excuse me…" She ran to her room and slammed the door shut.

"What did she say?" Koji asked, "Yamaki's her boyfriend?"

"_Ex_-boyfriend, it would seem," Miayag sighed, "I have not seen her like this before."

"Neither have I," Sora said, "And I've known her since she was eight. She's really upset." She frowned, "I'm going to talk to her."

"I don't know," Noriko said, "Maybe we should just leave her alone for little bit, you know, at least until she's ready to talk. Right now, I think she just wants to cry."

Koji spoke up. "Then maybe we should try to figure out what our plans are going to be."

Miayag mentioned with her hand. "If you would please join me at the table…"

The group crowded around the kitchen table, where a large map of Japan was lying. The Priestess pointed to an area on the right side of the southern area of the northernmost island. "Here is the volcanic KomagaTake…and here lies the town of Shikabe. That would be the best point to discover information. Now…"

She pointed to the right side of the southernmost of the four large islands. "Here is Nichinan. On the same day that we believe the Flail of Chance entered Earth and landed on Shikoku Island, there were reports of seismic activity from Komaga Take, and also a report of a tidal wave in Nichinan. Thankfully, there were no deaths or injuries from either, but, we also do not have any reason to believe that Juro is unaware of these two occurrences. After all, Taichi, Yamato and myself all felt the Holy Weapons falling to Earth, I am certain he did the same. We must act quickly, before he attempts to take them."

"So," Yariko said, "One fell into the Pacific?"

Miayag nodded. "Yes."

"So we'll need Jyou," Sora said, "And I'm pretty sure they're not gonna let us climb Komaga-Take right now, so I'll need to go there, so Piyomon can fly us to the top."

"Me and Tanna better go with you," Takuya said, "'Cause my partner can fly and with Tanna…well…just to even things out."

Noriko mentioned to the Yamato doubles, "And we'll go to the coast."

"Wait," Miayag said, "With Jyou, you are four, but, Sora's group will only have three."

Sora stared at her, "But…aren't you coming with us?"

She smiled slightly and shook her head, "I think it would be best if I remained here so that I may find a way to returned Taichi and Yamato to normal. Also, I do not think we should leave Hikari alone right now."

Sora turned towards Hikari's closed door, and she could still hear the cries from the younger woman. She wanted to run to her, hug her, comfort her, she wanted to be there for her, since Taichi could not, yet, she also felt that Noriko was right, and that Hikari just needed some time to herself at the moment. "All right, but, who should come with us?"

"Mimi or Michael?" Noriko asked.

She shrugged. "Mimi's got her hands full with her baby, besides, Betamon's a water digimon, and we already have Jyou,"

Koji spoke up, "But can't Seadramon fly through the air too?"

"I think Michael's can," Sora responded, "Maybe we should call them."

Miayag nodded. "I think that would be best."

The redhead nodded and grabbed her cellphone from her purse. She limbed onto the balcony. The others watched her exit the apartment, and the room fell silent. Noriko turned to Miayag. "There's something I want to ask you, where's Hiroshi, Keiko and Takashi?"

The Priestess nodded. "They, along with James, left my side shortly after we had fought and defeated GranDracmon. I do not know where they are, but their fate is no longer within my hands."

Outside, Sora dialed the phone number, which was programmed into her memory. It rang a few times before she heard a familiar voice, "Hello?"

Sora winced slightly at the sound of a crying baby that could be heard over the receiver. She wondered if she should call back, she really did not want to bother her at all, especially if she was taking care of the baby. Also, a deeper reason assaulted the pit of her stomach, when she heard the baby crying, she wondered about _her_ baby, would she be able to care for it by herself? She doubted she would be able to find another man so soon after Taichi's death, and if she did, he would probably be frightened off by the thought of her being pregnant, especially with her previous lover's child. She was sure that Taichi would want her to be happy, and to do whatever it would take to care for their child, but would it be fair?

"Hello?"

She blinked, remembering that she was speaking on the phone. "Oh, sorry, hi Mimi, it's Sora."

"Sora!" her friend's voice squealed, "Oh, it's so good to hear from you! The last time we saw each other was…" She could hear the excitement drop from her voice, "…was Taichi and Yamato's…"

"Yeah, I know," she said.

"Well, how are you holding up? Are you doing okay?"

Sora smiled slightly. "I should be asking you that! How are _you?_ How's your baby?"

"Oh, he's doing fine, me and Michael are a wreck though. Did you have any idea how much it hurts to breastfeed? I mean, I've heard the arguments for both sides, and me and Michael kind of decided to do it this way, though I don't know why _he_ had a say in this, it's not _his breasts that feel like raw nerves!_"

Sora blinked. "Um, Mimi…"

Her friend continued. "And I love Gabriel so much, more then I thought I could even love someone, but just when I get some peace and quiet, he starts crying because he's hungry, so then off comes my shirt, I'm not even wearing a bra right now…"

The redhead thought to a guy she had dated a few years ago, he had always gone for her breasts during their lovemaking. She thought that he was always doing it to attempt to arouse her, but now she wondered if he was simply hungry. "Um, Mimi…!"

There was a pause on the other end. "Oh, sorry, I'm just so tired, I haven't had a full night sleep in weeks."

Sora smiled. "That's okay. Um, there's kind of a…a problem…"

Mimi's voice grew serious. "What kind of problem? A digital problem?"

"Yeah, we know you're busy with the baby and everything, but we were wondering…"

"Well, if you need help, then we'll be there."

Sora was not worried about asking Mimi for help, if she was in trouble, Mimi would do anything to help; it was what she was about to ask that caused a guilty feeling in her stomach. "Actually Mimi…"

But before she could finish, Mimi interrupted her, "Um....not that I don't want to help you, but…could Michael maybe give you a hand? I mean, I don't want to leave Gabriel with friends or Michael's parents…"

"No, that's fine!" Sora said, "Michael will be great."

She knew that Mimi was smiling. "Great, I'll tell him when he comes home. He can be there tomorrow morning."

"Great, I'll talk to you soon." She disconnected the call and limped back into apartment. "Michael's coming tomorrow morning."

"Sweet," Takuya grinned, "I guess there's nothing else to talk about, so why don't you guys head out…"

"It's the middle of the night!" Koji protested, "Let's wait until tomorrow, then we'll go."

"But…"

"We don't' want to get there, and then be tired for the rest of the day, right?" Yariko pointed out."

Takuya sighed. "All right, fine."

"Another thing," Noriko said, "I know that Hikari invited us to stay, but I don't think we all should. Koji, Yariko and Yamato Jr. can come with me."

""And Takuya, Tanna and Taichi Jr. can spent the time at my apartment," Sora said, "But, should we leave Hikari by herself?"

"I doubt she would do anything to harm herself," Miayag said, "Her spirit is much stronger then we think."

Sora sighed. "I hope so, losing her brother, then finding out that her boyfriend isn't who he says. I feel really sorry for her."

111

Located in Shinjuku, the double-towered building housed the mysterious Hypnos organization, a government-funded agency, whose origins and purpose are still highly classified. Within the basement of this building, the agency's chief scientist, Dr. Akihiro Kurata, sat within his laboratory, where he was hosting a very infamous guest.

"Tatsuo Juro," Kurata said, "I've heard about you, I mean, only recently that is. You were responsible for the deaths of Taichi Yagami and Yamato Ishida…in fact, you were _directly_ responsible."

Juro nodded. "That is correct. My partner, Metal Piranhmon killed them."

The middle-aged man nodded. "And please tell me, where is your partner?"

The Fallen Chosen sighed slightly. "Well, a digimon cannot live forever…"

"Yes, I'm aware of the ability to have their data reconfigured…"

"Yes, while that happens, the basic data itself eventually becomes corrupted and the data becomes lost. This can occur because of the number of rebirths, but also, over time, the data simply disintegrates, in order to keep my partner here, in this world, we are forced to regress him to his Digitama form at the end of every battle. As you can imagine, the more time spent as Metal Piranhmon, the higher the rate of decay."

Kurata nodded. "Yes, I see."

Juro leaned in closer, "I have heard of your eagerness in experimentations, especially with all things digital. What I would like from you is, a way to reconfigure my partner's data, as well as a possible way to…extend my own life."

"What?"

Juro sighed. "I have finally been reunited with my Flail of Chance, now I may finish what I started over sixty years ago, but I may not live for much longer."

Kurata stared at him for a moment before rubbing his chin. "Perhaps I might able to 'refresh' your partner's data, but as for you…I'm sorry, but I don't have any knowledge about a fountain of youth…"

"I'm not asking to be younger, just to stave off death."

Kurata was silent as he began to ponder theories, as well as consequences. This man was able to kill Taichi Yagami and Yamato Ishida, if Kurata could not help him, he may very well be next, but how could he stop the inevitable?

A thought suddenly entered his mind. "There may be a way, but it hasn't been tested yet, at all in fact."

"What?" Juro asked.

"The data that was collected from the..uh…'divisions,' of Yagami and Ishida indicate that they are all fusions of the Daughters of the First, and an aspect of Yagami and Ishida's personalities. Our research indicates that when they fought GranDracmon, all the Daughters gave them their powers so that they could evolve to Omegamon X. Now, DNA doesn't fuse like that in real science, so I believe it was able to combine so perfectly because it was, in fact, data. So, I feel that if DNA could be transformed into data, such combinations would be possible. If we could merge healthier, younger cells to your body, it could very well extend your lifespan."

Juro smiled. "What do you need to do this?"

"A Digital Gate."

The Fallen Chosen frowned. "That could present a problem, for you see, Digital Gates that appear naturally are very unstable, and can collapse at any moment."

Kurata nodded. "Yes, but, if we were to use your digivice, we might be able to construct one that can remain stable for an extend period of time."

"I see, but how would you even do this? The gate is a passage to the Digital World, and that world has been destroyed."

"It was destroyed?" Kurata asked, shocked.

"Yes, by a demon named Cahiti."

The scientist began to scribble notes down on a pad of paper on his desk. "I see, well, what I want to do is to simply transform organic substances into data, so I would need to eliminate the…exit path, but I cannot even began testing without a functional Digital Gate."

"Yes, I understand."

Kurata stared at him: he seemed calm enough. "And why should I even do this, what's in it for me?"

Juro narrowed his eyes. "I shall let you live."

The scientist felt a shiver run up his spine, that was what he was afraid of, yet, his rational mind quickly found a flaw in that plan, "But, if you kill me, then who's going to do what you want?"

Juro smirked. "Ah, you are as smart as I thought, bravo. You crave knowledge; I can give that to you, as well as becoming my chief scientist."

Kurata raised an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

Juro smiled slightly and clench his fist, "We are going to create a world where everyone is equal, where there are no classes, no distinctions; a world where _no one can look down their, snobby, stuck-up noses at you!"_

Kurata stared. "I take it this is a sore spot with you?"

Juro took a deep breath to calm himself. "During the time of the Holy Warriors, the ones that you call, "First Chosen," I was brought to the Digital World. A…prophecy foretold that I would help the First Chosen, but they seemed to care little for my help. They felt they needed to protected me, and that I should never exert myself. I was treated like a second-class citizen, all because I was the newcomer, the 'baby' of the group. I empathized with other digimon that had been cast aside under the rule of the First Chosen. You've heard that they were just and benevolent, right, but that was only to the ones _they_ deemed worthy. I joined with the outcasts, and together we attempted to destroy the empire of the First Chosen, but…we were defeated and I was exiled back to Earth. So I know what it is like to be looked down upon."

Kurata nodded slowly. "I see. Then why did you kill Yagami and Ishida?"

"Because they were the only X-Chosen with Mega-level partners, they dominated the others, brutality ordered them to do _their_ bidding! I would not tolerate that!"

Kurata had always heard that Yagami and Ishida were loved by the other Chosen, was Juro simply over exaggerating, was he simply insane, or was he correct? "Okay, but how do you plan to do this?"

"Simple, to destroy the governments of the world."

The scientist's eyes opened wide. He was clearly insane, there was no way this could be even remotely possible.

Juro seemed to read his mind, because he chuckled. "Have no worries, it can be accomplished, but an army of powerful Chosen, those Chosen possessing Holy Weapons. After the Digital World was destroyed, they found their way to this world, and fell from the sky like shooting stars. We only need to find those weapons, pair them with Chosen of like minds as ourselves, and then, if your DNA/Data theory holds true, you should be able to create clones of those Chosen, correct?"

Kurata nodded, "Theoretically…"

Juro smiled, "Then we need only send the two 'divisions,' as you called them, of Yagami and Ishida, to find two weapons I feel fell to Japan."

"I may have others that can help as well," Kurata answered.

"Excellent," Juro grinned, "I had a feeling that this would be a bountiful partnership."

111

Hikari did not even remember falling asleep, but when she saw the rays of the sun begin to filter through her white curtains. She blinked for a few moments and sat up in her bed. She glanced at her body and saw that she was still wearing the same outfit as the day before. Her eyes flew open and she glanced at the clock on her nightstand; she normally left a few minutes before 6:45, so she could arrive at her classroom at 7:30, but the first period did not begin until 8: 45, so if she left at 8 o'clock, she would still have time. Only, it was not 6:45, nor was it 8 o'clock…it was 9:30.

Hikari had only swore four times in her life: the first time was when she was six, and another girl in her elementary class named Yuka pushed her violently into the mud beneath the swings at the school playground. Yuka was a problem child to say the least, and Hikari was anything but, so like a typical bully, she did everything she could to torment the other girl. Hikari at first tried to become her friend, and then even ignored her, but after she came home crying one day, Taichi told her to stand up for herself, and even told her what to say. The next day, Hikari was blissfully and happily playing on the swings, when Yuka ran up behind her and threw her into the ground. Hikari whipped the dirt from her nose and fought back tears as she rose to her feet. Yuka was laughing so loudly, Hikari took a deep breath and shouted what Taichi had told her, "Fuck off you shit-eating bitch!"

It had done its trick, Yuka was instantly silenced, the entire schoolyard was instantly silenced. It would have been great, if one of the teachers had not been standing behind her. Both she and Yuka were sent home for suspension, and after Hikari's parents heard that Taichi had told her that line, he was grounded as well.

The second time had been during Myotismon, after watching the entire population of Odaiba terrorized by the vampire demon, knowing it had been all because of her, she felt that she would soon collapse under the pressure, then watching him kill Wizardmon right before her eyes, caused her to scream, "You fucking demon!"

The third time had been twenty years later, the previous night in fact, when she discovered that her boyfriend for over a year, had been deceiving her. The feelings from Myotismon came rushing back, Mistuo Yamaki was in charge of a government agency called Hypnos, who had compiled information on the Chosen, and Hikari believed that it was from her. She had broken down, and not only accused him of taking her brother's remains for "…some fucking experiment," but also warned him that is he came after her friends, she would kill him.

And now, the fourth time, was when she realized that she over two hours late for work, with no call to her employer, she was certain that she would soon be searching for another job. "Oh shit!"

She leapt from her bed and charged down the hall, heading for the telephone in the living room. She did not even notice that her guests were gone, or that her cousin was seated at the kitchen table. "Good morning."

Hikari ignored her and reached for the phone, when her cousin spoke again, "I have already called your school."

She blinked and spun to face her. "What?"

Miayag smiled. "Your Plotmon was becoming worried around 7:15, and since we knew of your…depression, we assumed that you might not feel well to work, so I called and told them that you were not feeling well." Her smile grew slightly, "They actually thought that I was you, because our voices are so similar."

Hikari smiled slightly. "Thank you, I…I apologize for my behavior last night…"

Miayag waved her hand, "There is no need, not one of your friends blamed you."

She sighed. "Where are they anyway?"

"They have gone to locate the weapons that fell to Japan days ago," she answered, "Now, please, I have made breakfast, please sit."

Hikari blinked and noticed for the first time that her cousin was not dressed in her typical priestess attire, instead, she was wearing a pink sweater and an orange skirt, she was actually dressed normally. "What smells so good?"

"Pancakes," she responded, "It is a typical breakfast in America."

Hikari glanced at the table, where her Plotmon X and Miayag's Plotmon were all ready feasting. The young woman sat down and began to eat. Miayag smiled warmly as she sat next to her. "Would you like to talk about it?"

She frowned. "I…." she sighed, "I just…I don't know how to feel. I told him everything about us, and he used that for his organization. He lied to be."

"Why is that so hard?" Miayag's Plotmon asked, "Sounds like you should just dump him and never look back."

She frowned, "Yeah, but…"

Miayag smiled slightly. "You still have feelings for him?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm in love with him."

Her cousin nodded. "Yes, I see."

Hikari stared at her. "Did you ever have a boyfriend?"

"There were some…high school loves…"

Hikari chuckled. "Yeah I remember those."

Miayag reached over and gently grasped the other woman's hands. "The only advice that I can give to you is this, if you truly love him, then I think you should speak to him."

"I know," she sighed, "But I can't, not yet. I wonder if he's even feeling like this."

Miayag was about to respond, when the sound of fierce crying could be heard sounding through the halls. Hikari stared at her for a moment, and her cousin sighed and rose to her feet. "The infant Taichi and Yamato had to remain here, they are far too young to be engaged with the others."

Hikari nodded and followed Miayag into the guest room, where the two babies were lying on the bed, crying loudly. Her cousin lifted Yamato Jr. into her arms, while Hikari hesitated for a moment before lifted Taichi Jr. Once she was holding him tightly, his crying instantly ceased.

Their Plotmons had followed them into the room, and Plotmon X was grinning. "Looks like someone just wanted to be held by their big sister."

Hikari began to blush. "This is weird enough without you saying things like that."

Miayag smiled. "Tell me, was _Juukeitei_ as peaceful as this when he was a baby?"

"I don't know, I wasn't even born yet."

"Oh, yes, sorry."

The slightly older woman did chuckle. "But I do remember when we were both younger, Mom used to say that the only time he ever _was_ peaceful was when he was sleeping."

Miayag laughed as well. "I can imagine."

111

Tanna had her eyes closed and she breathed in deeply as she felt the wind on her face and the way it brushed through her hair. "Oh, I'm in heaven…"

She was seated on Birdramon's back, along with her partner, Yuki Agumon, and of course, Sora. Flying closely beside them was Seadramon X, along with Takuya, his Agumon, and Seadramon X's partner, who recently arrived from an overnight flight from San Francisco.

Sora smiled as she addressed the blond-haired man. "So Michael, how's Mimi?"

"Exhausted," he replied with a smile, "We both are."

"But babies are so cute!" Tanna grinned.

"Yeah they are," he replied, "Until you have to change their diapers, plus not to mention the fact that you have to get up at least nine or ten times in the middle of the night because they're crying. I've been going to work and just sleeping behind my desk." He shrugged, "Eh, who am I kidding, I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"You're rambling," Seadramon X mumbled.

"Yeah, I know," he sighed, "I'm just tired."

"You're not gonna fall asleep on us, are you?" Takuya asked.

"Takuya!" Tanna snapped, "Sorry about him, he's just a little rude!"

"Hey, I'm not rude!"

Birdramon sighed, "They bicker just like a real brother and sister."

"Twin brother and sister," Sora sighed. She thought of Takuya, who acted so much like Taichi, but, they all did: Takuya acted like Taichi's outgoing, heroic, and…'straightforward' side, that is, his often-times, rudeness. Tanna was his feminine and energetic side, Taichi Jr. was his innocent side, and Miach was his…was his greedy, angry side. She shivered at the memory of the Demon King, Cahiti, who was Taichi's arrogance brought to life, but, thankfully, Miach did not seem anywhere near as powerful as Cahiti, she was certain that if one of the Demon Lords had come back, it would be the end of them all.

"Hey, Sora?" Tanna asked, "Is that the volcano?"

The redhead blinked and looked towards her right: a large mountain loomed before them. "I guess," she answered, "We crossed into Hokkaido a while ago." She glanced at the map she had brought with her…and she soon discovered that a street-level map was useless from the air. She spied a congregation of buildings below. "Well, let's set down so we can figure out where we are."

"You heard her, Seadramon," Michael said.

Both digimon descended to a ground that was a open grassland, with Komagatake behind them. Seadramon X and Birdramon both returned to their Child forms, and they, like the other digimon, where quickly disguised: Betamon X and Agumon were hidden beneath trench coats, with Piyomon pretending to be Sora's backpack and YukiAgmon a stuffed animal. Once they felt secure in their disguises, they entered the city.

Michael glanced around at scenery as they walked through the lightly populated streets. "You do know where we are, right Sora?"

The redhead did not answer. She was staring at her map, which she was able to hold with both hands, as she was using her prosthetic leg. She stared at the map, then looked at the street signs, then looked at the map once more. She glanced up again, then smiled. "Oh, I think we're in Shikabe Town."

"Shikabe Town?" Takuya asked.

Sora nodded, grinning. "My dad took me here one day. It was right before I went to summer camp, before we went to the Digital World. He wanted me to see the geyser that just opened to the public a few months before." She walked over to a sign that was hanging on the side of a building. "Shikabe Kanketsusen Park," she smiled, "Do you guys want to see it? It's right around the corner."

Takuya and Tanna both saw how happy Sora was at remembering the day she spent with her father, so they both nodded. "Sure," Takuya answer.

The redheaded woman grinned and began to lead them through the streets. Michael whispered to Takuya. "There's a geyser here?"

"I guess so," he shrugged, "I don't think it's that big a deal, but if Sora wants to do it."

"Yeah, she seems really happy."

"I'm sure remembering it makes her happy," Tanna whispered, "Don't you remember about Sora's family growing up? Her father was away all the time and her mother was really stressed out! Sora hardly got to see her father, and she didn't really even speak to her mother until she was ten or eleven. So come on, let's just be happy for her."

As they approached the park, they could see that a large crowd had congested together. Sora frowned, but before she could speak, Tanna began to jump into the air to try and get a better look, but she could not.

"Oh man," she frowned.

"What were you doing that for?" Takuya asked, "Come on, this way."

She shrugged and followed her 'twin brother' through the crowd. He did not push or shove others out of his way, but he did masterfully guide them through openings in the human wall before arriving at the front of the crowd. Tanna's eyes lit open as she watched the towering explosion of water. "That's so beautiful!"

Takuya chuckled as he crossed his arms. "Yeah, it is pretty cool."

Behind them, Sora had managed to filter her way through as well. The redhead grinned wildly. "Wow, it's just like I remember."

Tanna walked over and hugged her. "I'm glad you're happy, Sora, I really am."

Takuya turned away from the two young women. "Hey, where's Michael?"

Sora began to look around as well. "He was right behind me."

Takuya shrugged. "Eh, he's probably fine."

His 'twin sister' frowned, "But we should stay together." She continued to scan the crowd until she saw a familiar head of blond hair, "Oh, there he is. Michael, Michael, over here!"

The young man maneuvered his way through the crowd as well before reaching his group. He had in his hand a bundle of folded papers "Sorry," he said, "I just saw that news stand and thought it be a good idea to buy a paper." He whipped the pages open and began to skim the text.

"Does it say anything useful?" Takuya asked.

Michael frowned. "Well, according to this, due to last weeks seismic disturbance, Komaga-take is off-limits to all except for the Japanese Meteorological Agency."

"Well, we kinda figured that," Sora frowned, "That's why needed fliers, right?" She smiled as she glanced to Piyomon, who was still hanging from her back. Her partner responded by lightly squeezing the redheaded woman.

"But how can we use those fliers if we can't even get close to the mountain?" Tanna asked.

The group fell silent. "You really think they've got it barricaded or something?" Takuya asked.

"It doesn't say," Michael responded, looking at the paper.

"Well, does it really matter?" Sora asked, "We're gonna be flying so high, anyway, that I doubt they'll see us at all."

"All right," Michael nodded, "So how are we going to find that weapon?"

"Well," Takuya said, "Remember what Miayag said about feeling the weapons? I'm hoping that if we get close enough…." He held out his hands, which suddenly erupted in flames, revealing the Katana of Hidokoro, "This will start to react."

The blond man nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Tanna giggled, "Let's go!"

111

After exiting the city, they once again too to the air: Takuya, Agumon and Michael riding atop Seadramon X and Tanna, YukiAgumon and Sora riding Birdramon. They soon arrived at the 1,133 meter-high monster looming before them. "Wow," Birdramon said, "I didn't think it would be that big. Sora, I don't think it would be a good idea to fly to the top."

"Why not?"

"I don't think there's enough air for you to breathe up there."

"Yeah," Seadramon X added, "We're digimon, we don't need as much air to breath, but you guys won't make it."

"Shit," Takuya frowned, "So what do we do?"

Sora was staring at the giant mound of rock. "Why don't we just fly around it and see if Takuya senses anything."

Michael nodded. "All right Seadramon, let's go."

The large firebird and the serpentine digimon began to circle around the mid-section of the rock mound. A large rumble was heard emanating from the mountain. Seadramon X began to sweat slightly. "Um, we're sure this isn't gonna erupt, right?"

"No, we're not," Sora said, "It's an active volcano."

"Great."

"Well," the redhead said, "I'm hoping that if it does erupt, since we're in the air, we'll be able to get the hell out of here before there's any problem."

Michael glanced over his shoulder at the Taichi-double behind him. "Anything yet?"

He shook his head, "No."

"Are we even sure it's still here?" YukiAgumon asked, "What if those government guys took it?"

"How would they even know it's here?" Tanna asked.

Her partner frowned, "I'm just taking a guess, because of that!" The white-colored pointed to the base of the mountain, where a familiar black truck was resting behind the government barricade. "What the hell are they doing here?" Tanna gasped, "Oh man!"

"Did they take the weapon?" Michael asked, twisting to face Takuya.

The young man was holding the Katana of Hidokoro; he pointed it towards the van, and it began to glow slightly. "Yeah, I think it's down there. Damn it! They fucking took it!"

Sora growled. "Is this Mitsuo's idea of revenge? That fucking bastard!"

"Sora," Tanna warned, "We don't know that…."

"Who else?" she snapped. She thought of the younger woman, sobbing loudly, attempting to rid herself of the pain that Mitsuo Yamaki had caused her. "Well, I'm not letting him get away with this! Birdramon, go!"

Tanna and her partner were almost thrown the firebird, and it was only by grabbing Sora that they were able to keep from being flung into the volcano. Michael sighed. "Man, she can be just as bad as Taichi!"

"What are you waiting for?" Takuya shouted, "Go!"

Seadramon X shot after Birdramon, but the female digimon had already reached the black van. As she began to flap her wings to keep herself a lift, the side door of the van slid open and a creature resembling an armored snake leapt towards the sky. The creature wrapped its tail around Bridramon's neck and pulled down as hard as she could. The giant firebird was yanked off balance and her passengers were thrown from her back. It was only by Seadramon X flying past that they were saved from smashing into the ground. He swooped down to the ground and his passengers leapt off. He shot around to aid Birdramon, but before he could, a familiar black-skinned digimon dove out of the van, and was quickly covered by a blast of white light before transforming into a large, hulking dinosaur.

"Metal Tyrannomon?" Sora gasped, "But, that means…" She turned her attention back to the van, and saw two human figures emerge, one was a young brown-haired woman dressed in a dark black dress, and the other was a male that the redhead instantly recognized, indeed she would, for he wore the face of her lover. "Miach…"

Taichi's 'dark' side bowed, "At your service.

"What are you doing with Hypnos?" she asked, hardly able to believe her own eyes.

He shrugged. "What can I say? They promised me the chance to destroy all of you…" He began to grin, "Then, without any of you around, I won't have to be constantly reminded that I'm only part of Taichi, then I'll finally be whole!"

Sora was torn between emotions. She did not know how to react, so her anger was redirected at the teenager standing beside him. "And who the hell are you?"

The woman gave a bow. "My name is Nanami, and my partner, Coatlmon, is the beautiful snake that is currently strangling your partner."

Miach grinned. "Hell of a body, and a hell of an attitude! Heh…" He then lightly began to rub the teenager's chin. Her rage was beginning to build, and she would have exploded with anger, if her attention had not have been turned away by the sound of YukiAgumon and Takuya's regular Agumon evolving.

"Yuki Agumon evolve to Allomon!"

"Agumon evolve to Geogreymon! Geogreymon evolve to RiseGreymon!"

Allomon grabbed Coatlmon with her claws managed to yank him from around Birdramon, but unfortunately, the large snake whipped around Allomon's arms and chest, constricting her tightly. The dinosaur struggled to break free, but the snake shouted out, "Freeze Wave!" A blast of blue energy suddenly coursed through the dinosaur, dropping her to her knees.

"Birdramon!" Sora shouted, holding out her digivice, "Evolve again!"

Her firebird partner flew higher into the air as she began to glow with energy, "Birdramon evolve to Garudamon!" The larger Bird Man digimon held out her arms in a familiar pose and fired a blast of energy from her body. "Shadow Wing!"

The energy attack soared towards Coatlmon. The snake leapt from Allomon and flew into the air, thanks to the wings on his head. "Toltecan Wind!" He began to maneuver his tail so rapidly that it caused a tremendous gust of wind that sent Garudamon energy blasting back towards her. She responded by dive bombing towards the ground so quickly that Coatlmon could not react in time. Garudamon hovered directly before him and was about to execute her Eagle Claw technique, but Coatlmon once again wrapped tightly around her.

"Freeze Wave!"

Garudamon yelled in pain as the snake's attack sent volts of energy through her body. Allomon recovered in time and grabbed Coatlmon, but this time used her large teeth to smash down on his mid-section.

The battle against Metal Tyrannomon was actually faring better for Seadramon X and Risegreymon. At the beginning, Seadramon X had evolved again to Megaseadramon X, and the large serpent began by attempting to mimic Coatlmon by wrapping his body around the Cyborg and squeezing him tightly. Unfortunately, Metal Tyrannomon was much stronger then Garudamon or Allomon, so all he had to do was flex his muscles to force the serpent to release his grip and fall to the ground.

Metal Tyrannomon raised his foot to smash it down on the fallen serpent, but Risegreymon shot from literally out of no where and slammed his feet into the metal monster's chest. The cyborg whipped his hands around and grabbed the dinosaur's foot, then twisted, forcing Risegreymon's entire body to twist around. The dinosaur pointed his shotgun arm directly at Metal Tyrannomon's face. "Trident Revolver!"

Three quick blasts of bullets shot into the Cyborg's face and he stumbled backwards. Megaseadramon X then leapt back into the air.

Metal Tyrannomon roared and pointed his palm forward. "Giga Destroyer II!" A large missile exploded from his hand, heading straight towards the two digimon. Megaseadramon X dove for cover, yet Risegreymon remained in place.

"What the hell are you doing?" Takuya screamed, "Get out of there!"

His partner did not respond. He only stared at the missile, which shot ever closer. Once it came close enough, Risegreymon twisted out of the way, grabbed the missile with his hands, used the momentum to twist around in a circle, then released the projectile, which was sent flying back towards the Cyborg digimon. His eyes opened in shock seconds before the missile impacted, sending him tumbling onto his back.

"All right!" Takuya shouted, "Nice move!"

"Yeah," Risegreymon answered, "I'm just glad it worked."

Sora turned back to Miach and Nanami, who were laughing in glee at the sight. She just stared at Miach, could that really be his…his 'dark' side? Was he really that evil beneath everything?

Nanami saw her staring at them, and she continued to laugh. "What's wrong, don't like to watch your digimon getting killed?"

She would not let her anger get the better of her. "Where's the weapon that was on the mountain?"

Miach grinned. "Oh, you mean…this?" He reached from behind his back to reveal a long, green crossbow.

"The bow," Sora said, glancing to the ground, "Who had the bow? Which one had the bow?"

Miach smiled. "The bow belonged to Abungu, Warrior of Forest, and you, of course, know which Daughter held the power of Forest, right?"

Sora's eyes narrowed, "Keeya."

"That's right, and when all the Daughters of the First gave their power to Taichi and Yamato, Taichi got Keeya's Power of Forest, but wouldn't you know it, that aspect of Taichi's personality that was bounded with Keeya's power didn't survive the first night in Kurata's cages, so that aspect died." His grin grew wider. "But guess who absorbed that power?"

He threw his arm into the air, and the Bow of Abungu began to glow with dark green energy. Sora twisted her attention towards Metal Tyranomon, who was climbing to his feet, his body glowing with energy. "Mugendramon evolve to Gaioumon!"

The newly-evolved creature was truly a terrifying sight to behold. He resembled Wargreymon in body type, but he was covered in black samurai armor and held two bladed swords in his hands.

"Wow!" Nanami grinned, "Wow, now he's hot-looking!"

Unlike the rest of her team, who were staring with awe at Gaioumon, Sora was staring at Miach. "_How come he didn't merge with his partner like Taichi and Yamato did when they had their weapons? Then again…"_ She glanced over at Takuya, who was still holding the Katana of Hidokoro, "_He's been using that sword all along, and he hasn't merged either, but Risegreymon isn't a Mega digimon, he's only Fully Evolved. Maybe Miach doesn't have as much of Keeya's power as he thinks…"_

Miach grinned with pleasure at his Mega-level partner. "All right, let's see what you can do."

Takuya gripped the Katana of Hidokoro tightly, "All right Risegreymon, don't show any fear!"

"You too!" Michael shouted to his partner, "Show him what we do to people who threaten our friends!"

Gaioumon seemed to have lost the rage he displayed when he was Metal Tyrannomon. Instead of running forward with insanity, he remained calmly in place, holding his two swords at a perfectly stance. It was Risegreymon who grew tired of waiting and ran forward. He swung his revolver around at the last moment, "Trident Revolver!"

Gaioumon stared at the three bullets flying towards him. He whipped out his swords and began to use a fine motion and easily chopped all three into small piles of debris before it ever reached his body. The dinosaur could only stare in horror. "Oh shit."

Megaseadramon X decided to try his luck. He did not want to use his King Javelin attack, as that would bring him too close to those swords, so he pulled his head back, gathering energy in his horn and shot it forward. "Thunder Javelin!"

Gaioumon used his sword as a mirror, reflecting the attack harmlessly into the sky.

"This isn't good," the serpent said, "I think we should attack him together."

"Yeah, good idea," Risegreymon said, "All right, on three, one…two…"

Before he could even say the last number of the count-down, Gaioumon held his swords out in a horizontal line. "Rinkazen."

He flung his swords around, sending beams of light from his weapons that nearly decapitated the two digimon. As it was, their bodies were torn, opening large wounds in their sides. Takuya and Michael could not even speak as Gaioumon ran forward, gathering energy in his swords. With his speed, he had arrived between the two digimon before they could move. "Gaia Reactor," he said simply. The energy contained in his swords suddenly exploded in a blast of light. When the smoke cleared, both Megaseadramon X and Risegreymon were lying on the ground.

Sora had been watching both battles as best she could, but when she saw the two Fully Evolved digimon fall, she twisted to her own Fully Evolved partner. "Garudamon! You have to help them!"

The Bird Man digimon, however, was still struggling with Coatlmon. She had managed to grab the snake right behind the head and at the base of the tail. He was no longer able to use his body to constrict them, but if she were to release her grip, she and Allomon would be doomed. She heard her partner's orders, but she addressed Allomon instead.

"We must hurry!" she said, "The others need our help."

Tanna's dinosaur partner nodded. "Yes."

Nanami crossed her arms and huffed. "Coatlmon, you'd better not loose."

Her partner could not even respond, as Garudamon was squeezing too tightly on his neck. While the Bird Man held him in place, Allomon began to assault his mid-section viciously. First she used her large teeth to bit and tear, and once a sufficient injury had been placed, the dinosaur still stepped backwards to a good distance, then charged forward, butting her head into Coatlmon's injured section. "Dynamite Head!" she shouted second before impact. A small explosion erupted, Allomon and Garumon were both safe, but Coatlmon fell limp in the Bird Man's hands. She released her grip and he fell to the ground, regressing to his previous form of Wormmon.

"Wormmon!" Nanami gasped. She twisted to Tanna and Sora, "You two, that have caused this humiliation, you shall be punished for this, I will seek revenge."

"Yeah, whatever you bitch," Tanna muttered, running to stand beside Takuya and Michael.

Gaioumon held his swords tightly as Allomon and Garudamon charged towards him. Allomon opened her mouth and expunged a blast of heat. "Dino Burst!"

The samurai digimon did not run or even attempt to block the attack, the burst of hot air simply impacted his armor and dissipated into nothing.

"Oh damn it!" Tanna swore, "That was our strongest attack! Are you telling me we can't do any damage?"

"It would appear so," Miach laughed, "He's just too strong. Gaioumon, why don't you just get rid of her now?"

The samurai did not answer, only position his swords once more. "No!" Tanna screamed, "Allomon, get out of the way!"

Her dinosaur partner prepared to run, and Garudamon was diving from the sky to attack, but Gaioumon was simply too fast for them. He pointed his sword at Allomon. "Rinkageki." A large arrow of light exploded from the blade, striking the dinosaur at full force. Allomon stumbled backwards, then regressed to YukiAgumon in seconds.

"No!" Tanna screamed.

"Shadow Wing!"

Gaioumon turned his attention to the sky and watched as Garudmon's attack headed straight for him. He crouched onto his knees, then shot into the sky, passing the attack entirely. Sora held her breath as the samurai digimon reached Garudamon and swung his swords around. It was only by a skillful maneuver by the Bird Man that her life was saved; Gaioumon's attack only clipped the tip of her left wing. By that time, gravity pulled Gaioumon back to the ground.

Megaseadramon X and Risegreymon had recovered by then, and prepared a double attack, the serpent firing his Thunder Javelin attack and Risegreymon firing lasers from the guns on his wings and chest, his Rising Destroyer technique. However, as the two attacks shot towards him, the samurai darted aside to avoid Risegreymon's, and used a slash of his sword to send the Thunder Javelin technique spiraling back towards the ground. Megaseadramon X was hit full force by his own attack, he was dazed, but otherwise conscious.

"Damn it!" Miach mumbled, "That X-antibody is strong!"

Nanami turned towards him. "Wait, if Taichi Yagami had the X-antibody, then shouldn't you?"

"I don't," he sneered, "Kurata's tests proved it, so it either disappeared when we separated, or else Takuya, Tanna or that bratty baby has it!" He smiled, "But it doesn't matter, with this bow, I'm stronger then all of them!"

Takuya was staring at his partner, who was getting ready to battle Gaioumon one-on-one. With the level of power the samurai displayed, there would be no way Risegreymon could win. Takuya was staring at Miach, anger beginning to rise, when he noticed that his evil double was holding the Bow of Abungu at his side. The heroic side of Taichi placed the Katana through his belt to act like a sheath, then ran forward. He leapt towards the bow, and before Miach realized what was about to happen, Takuya grabbed the weapon from the evil side's hand.

The bow sent a bolt of green electricity through his body, causing him to shake as if he was being electrocuted. There was a slight explosion, sending him tumbling backwards, but miraculously, he still held tightly to the Bow of Abungu.

Miach twirled back towards the battlefield. With his partner unconscious, Risegreymon reverted to his Child form of Agumon, but, unfortunately, the forced separation of the bow from Miach caused Gaioumon to regress to his Child form as well.

The dark side of Taichi Yagami then took stock of the situation, both he and Nanami were in no position to fight, yet their enemies still retained Megaseadramon X and Garudamon. It would be suicide to remain.

"Retreat!" he shouted.

Nanami grabbed Wormmon while Miach grabbed Black Agumon. The two dove into the van and seconds later it was speeding across the grassy plain.

Megaseadramon X hovered over them. "Should I go after them?"

"Let them go for now," Michael said, "They lost this time."

Takuya was still lying on the ground, and Sora was now kneeling beside him. "Takuya," she said, "Please wake up."

The younger man moaned slightly, then slowly opened his eyes. "What…what happened?" He asked, "Did we win?"

The redhead smiled. "Yes, you nut job! You didn't know what was going to happen!"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I know, but what else was I supposed to do? We were gonna loose."

Sora hugged him. Without Taichi's other sides to balance him out, Takuya was Taichi's courageous side to its fullest.

"Besides," Takuya continued, "Now we've got another weapon!"

"Yeah, I know," she continued to smile. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction she assumed was south, "I just hope Noriko and the others are doing just as well."

To be continued…………


	7. Weapons of the Gods: Chapter 2

_My name is Koji, but it's really Yamato. What happened was, Yamato Ishida and Taichi Yagami fought the Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro, who killed them. Then, for some reason, their data got all separated, and formed a group of people based on their different personality traits, and each one was combined with the power of a Daughter of the First, which they got when they formed Omegamon X. Yet, only a few of us managed to survive. Four of the others didn't make it through the first night. We were trapped in Kurata's lab for a few days until Chihi Miayag came and started a big fight with the Hypnos crew. Me and others managed to escape, but then Miach and Yamag, Taichi and Yamato's 'dark' side merged with the Power of Fate from Miayag, joined back with Kurata and Juro._

_Now we're trying to find two of the Holy Weapons that fell to Japan. Sora, Takuya, Tanna and Michael found the Bow of Abungu in Hokkaido, now me, Noriko, Yariko and Jyou are in southern __Kyūshū, to find the second weapon, but I'm sure that it won't be so easy._

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_Digimon Gog_

_The Weapons of the Gods:_

_Chapter 2_

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Located in the basement of the Hypnos building, Dr. Akihiro Kurata's laboratory was strangely empty. For the past week, Kurata had not even seen his apartment, he had been living within his laboratory, trying desperately to discover the secret behind Taichi and Yamato's shattering. Now, after striking an alliance not only with the two 'Dark sides" of Taichi and Yamato, but also the Fallen Chosen, he was now privy to knowledge that he would never have discovered on his own. Yet, there was a price for that knowledge; he was now required to fulfill his end of the bargain, give Tatsuo Juro extended life. His plan to accomplish this goal, was to construct a Digital Gate and hopefully fuse healthier cells to Juro, if he could not do this, he did fear for his very life.

Now, Kurata was standing inside of an abandon building on the Tokyo Bay, looking across the water to the artificial island of Odaiba. The scientist was staring out of the window, looking across the bay. He glanced back into the warehouse, which was bare except for a few packing chains hanging from the ceiling. In the center of the floor, a group of people were unloading boxes of equipment; people all dressed in Hypnos hazmat suits. Kurata stood off to the side, and glanced over as a young man with a head of blond hair approached him. At his side was a Gotsumon. He stood before Kurata and saluted.

"Captain Kouki, reporting for duty, sir!"

Kurata nodded. "Yes, what do you have to report?"

Kouki placed his hands behind his back. "Sir, Lt. Nanami reports that she and Miach had found the weapon, which Master Juro named as the Bow of Abungu. However, they were confronted by Sora Takenouchi, Michael Barton, and the two duplicates of Taichi Yagami, Taana and Takuya, and during that confrontation, Yagami's duplicates took the weapon."

Kurata frowned. "Great, Juro's not going to like that. What about the other team?"

"Lt. Ivan and Yamag have been searching the waters near Nichinan. We know that there was a tidal wave that occurred the same day that Master Juro's Flail of Chance entered Earth, and judging by the intensity of the wave, we were able to judge that it occurred roughly one kilometer off-shore."

"Good," Kurata said, "But if Yagami and Ishida's shatters are searching for the weapons, you should warn them that they might have company."

"It has already been done, sir," he saluted.

Kurata nodded. "Good." He glanced back at the Hypnos agents, who had just finished unpacking the equipment, "Now, we've got to build a Digital Gate," He grinned, "And then we shall go down in history!"

111

It was already late in the afternoon when Noriko, Jyou, Yariko and Koji arrived in Nichinan City. Since only Noriko's Ladydevimon and Yariko's Butterflymon were capable of flight, and they were too small to carry passengers, they were forced to fly using airplane from Tokyo to Kyushu, which may have only taken a little under two hours, but the wait to purchase tickets, and the drive from Miyazaki Airport to Nichinan City gave then an extra hour and a half. They rented a car to drive into the city (donated generously by Jyou, since he was the only one who could afford it), and stopped as close as they could to the shoreline. It was a beautiful day, the water was calm and the sun reflected off the surface just perfectly. Gomamon X breathed into the ocean air. "Wow, I didn't realize how much I missed this."

Even Noriko smiled. "Yeah, this is beautiful."

Jyou placed at hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun as he surveyed the scene before him. The beach was full of people, which was not a surprise in the middle of summer, and if Jyou had not been married, he probably would have enjoyed the glances he was receiving from a group of college girls, but he knew that Kiku would have killed him. "All right," he said, "Miayag thinks the weapon fell in the water because of the tidal wave…but I don't really see that much damage…any, in fact, so it's either really far out, or it didn't hit as hard as we thought."

"But we still need to get _into_ the water, right?" Koji asked.

Jyou nodded. "Which means we'll need scuba gear, or something. Not to mention what Miayag said that Sora told her, if we've got to fight Hypnos too, this isn't going to be fun."

"It's never fun," Noriko muttered.

Yariko begin to look around the beach as well. "I don't see any Hypnos people, maybe we beat them here?"

"Or else we're in the wrong place," Jyou frowned.

Koji spied a food stand on the boardwalk and quickly ran behind it. His Gaomon followed. "What are you doing?"

His partner did not answer. Koji simply created a burst of white light in his palm, which quickly transformed into the Shotguns of Lucien. Using the stand as cover, he pointed the weapon at the ocean, and the guns began to glow slightly. He ran back to the others."It's here all right. We've got to get down there!"

"But how?" Noriko's Plotmon asked, "The only one that can breathe under water is Gomamon, and he can't do it himself."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

Yariko frowned. "We'll need some scuba gear or something, and a boat to get out there?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Koji nodded.

The three humans stared at one another for a moment before turning to face Jyou. The older man frowned. "Oh, come on! I already had to pay for the tickets and everything!"

Noriko gave a slight smile. "I'd help you if my entire paycheck wasn't going to keeping my apartment…"

He frowned. "All right, all right!"

The group wandered the boardwalk before they arrived at a store that rented diving equipment. Despite Jyou's financial abilities, he was only able to afford to rent two sets of scuba suits, as well as the smaller boat.

"You do have a boating license, right?" the man behind the counter asked.

And so, their large motorboat became a smaller rowboat. However, it was only really needed to carry their equipment, since Gomamon X, evolved to Tylomon X, could easily carry Jyou, Noriko and Plotmon, while Koji and Gaomon rowed Yariko and her Psychemon out over the ocean. Koji had placed the Shotguns of Lucien in front of him, and used the intensity of the glow to determine where to stop; about a mile offshore, the weapon began to glow with fierce intensity.

"I think this is it," Koji stated.

Jyou glanced into the water. Despite being beautiful and pristine near shore, further out in the sea, the water had become darker and murky. He began to pale. "Great."

Yariko stared at him. "Oh come on, you're the Chosen's…water contact, and you've never been underwater?"

"I was just thinking the same thing," Noriko answered.

Jyou stared at them. He was beginning to wonder if Yariko was Yamato's feminine side, then maybe it was a better idea if she did not rejoin with Koji.

Yamato's heroic side, however, was busy pulling on his scuba suit. "We'd better hurry before Hypnos gets here."

Jyou just grumbled as he began to pull on his equipment. Once they had suited up, they dove into the water, except for Goamon, who, unlike Gomamon X, could not breathe underwater. Koji held the Shotguns out before him, and the glow not only led them to the missing weapon, but also illuminated the water.

Jyou and Koji swam deeper into the ocean, while Gomamon X darted around them, laughing as he maneuvered through the water. He swam beneath them, then twirled around before swimming towards the surface. He came too close to Koji, and nearly knocked the Shotguns from his hand.

"Gomamon!" Jyou shouted as he best he could, yet in the depths of the water, it only came out as gurgles. Yet, his partner could clearly understand him through the vibrations in the water. He shouted back his reply, which was clearly audible.

"You'll have to catch me first!" he laughed as he swam further into the water's depths. Jyou was about to swim after him, but Koji grabbed his arm. The younger man pointed to an object floating in the water, which was glowing in the same intensity as Koji's shotguns. Jyou nodded and began to glance around, keeping look-out for Hypnos divers as Yamato's heroic side grabbed the weapon, a circular, shimmering object. Once the weapon was secured, they returned to the boat.

"You got it?" Yariko grinned, "Cool."

"Yeah," Koji said, "But now we've to get it back to Tokyo."

Jyou scanned the water's surface and saw a familiar furred head bobbing in the water. "Gomamon, we're leaving!"

Gomamon X frowned. "Already?" he pouted, "Fine." He swam towards the boat and shot from the water, executing a perfect back flip and landed in the boat. He grinned up at his partner. "How was that?"

"Fine," Jyou frowned as he wiped the water from his glasses, "Let's just get out of here."

They began to row the craft back to shore; Noriko smiled. "Well, that went better then I thought."

"Yeah," her Plotmon replied, as they climbed onto the dock, "I was expecting I was going to have to fight some kind of enemy or something."

"Yeah, I know, that's how these things usually turn out for us."

Koji handed her his scuba equipment, but it slipped from her hand and smacked into the wooden planks. "Careful!" Jyou shouted, "I won't get my deposit back if that's damaged."

"I just dropped it three inches," she muttered.

As they began to walk back towards the shoreline, Koji began to stare at the shield that he had pulled from the water. It was a gray color, and in the center was a unique symbol, similar to the symbol on the Shotgun of Lucien, but different. The Shotguns contained a symbol on the barrel, similar to a spinning vortex, while the one on the shield looked more like the rippling shingles on a roof.

"Whose weapon is that?" Gaomon asked.

Koji shook his head "I don't know, we'd have to ask Miayag, she'd probably know."

As they approached the shore, they instantly noticed how quiet it had become, and Yariko's Psychemon noticed another odd observation. "Where is everyone?"

She was correct; the entire beach had been mysteriously vacated. They stepped onto the sand and glanced around. "What the hell?" Noriko asked.

Gaomon narrowed his eyes and noticed the yellow tape surrounding the entire area, parking lot and all. The car holding area was vacated as well, except for one black truck. He turned to warn the others, but before he could, the sand suddenly exploded as a giant stegosaurus erupted from the ground. Noriko and Koji were thrown backwards, the scuba gear flying from their hands. Jyou dove into the air and managed to grab the equipment before they smashed into the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief and gently placed them onto the ground.

"Jyou!"

He twisted his head at the sound of his partner's yell. Goamon, Psychemon and Plotmon had already evolved to Goagamon, Butterflymon and Black Tailmon. They ran to defend themselves from the dinosaur, but he grabbed Gaogamon in his jaw and wrapped his tail around Butterflymon, Black Tailmon began to punch and kick in an effort to free them, but the dinosaur's skin was too scaly for him to feel anything. "Come on!" Gomamon X shouted.

Jyou nodded and grabbed his digivice. Gomamon X quickly evolved to his highest form of Anomalocarimon X. The crustacean skittered forward and raised his front pincers to attack the dinosaur, but before he could, a sharp pain blasted into his side, throwing him to the right. He twisted around and saw Cerberumon growling at him, drooling dripping from his three jaws.

"Cerberumon?" Jyou gasped. He twisted around and managed to spot the black truck in the parking lot, with two humans walking towards them. "Yamag!"

"Yamag?" Yariko gasped, spinning around to face her 'evil twin.' "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I was ordered."

"Ordered?" Noriko asked, "Wait a minute, what the hell where you doing in that truck? You're with Hypnos?"

He smirked and nodded. "That's right."

"W…why?"

He shrugged. "Purpose, direction…" a smile crossed his lips, "A chance to destroy you. Who knows, the point is, I'm here to take that weapon."

"What does Hypnos want with a weapon of the First Chosen?" Jyou asked.

He did not answer.

Noriko's eyes narrowed into rage-filled slits. "Hikari's boyfriend, is that it? This is his idea of revenge?"

Koji gripped tighter to the shield. "It doesn't matter, you're not getting this!"

"Come on, you can't even use it!" Yamag laughed.

Koji stared down at the weapon. He knew that he probably would not have been able to use it, as he already had the weapon that corresponded with his power of light. "All right, so you can?"

Yamag smirked. "I do have the powers of: Metal, Water and Fate. So I think the odds are with me…" His smile faded, "Now hand over that weapon!"

"Not a chance!" he shouted back.

Miach snarled and turned to the other human. "Lt. Ivan, take that weapon from them!"

"You got it," he nodded, "Stegomon, attack!"

Yamag pointed at Koji, "Machgaogamon, you know what to do."

The four digimon of the X-Chosen stood at attention, staring at the two approaching digimon. Koji held tightly to the Shotguns of Lucien and Gaogamon evolved to Machgaogamon. "All right," the wolf man said, cracking his knuckles, "We've got to take out Cerberumon first, so me and Anomalocarimon will take care of him."

"We'll handle Stegomon," Black Tailmon grinned, "No problem."

The dinosaur digimon roared. "I won't be as easy as you think! Take this! Shell Needle Rain!"

The spikes on his back exploded, sailing through the air towards the two female digimon. Butterflymon grabbed Black Tailmon and shot into the sky, safely avoiding the hail of projectiles. She fluttered forward and threw the chocolate-colored feline at the dinosaur's back. Black Tailmon pulled her fists back and executed her Neko Punch directly into his back, but even her rapid punches were not enough to break through Stegomon's leathery back. The dinosaur whipped his tail around, knocking the cat off of his back. Butterflymon whipped around in front of Stegomon's eyes and pointed her claws at his eyes. "Sweet Honey Straw!"

The honey that exploded from her fingertips struck him in the eye, and he began thrash around, whipping his tail erratically. He used his long tongue to wipe away the honey from his eyes and stared with rage at the hovering digimon. He growled and screamed, "Shell Needle…"

"Not so fast!" Black Tailmon shouted. Stegomon turned his attention to her, and her eyes began to glow. "Cat's Eye!"

The dinosaur trembled and twitched and he continued to stare at Black Tailmon. He wanted to turn away, but he was just simply unable to do so. "That's it," the feline said, in a clam voice, "Just stay calm, and everything will be fine. You don't want to hurt us, you're our friend…"

On the sidelines, Yariko turned to Noriko. "I don't understand, she can use hypnosis?"

Noriko nodded. "Hikari's Tailmon can use it too, but I don't know how many times she's used it. This is the first time Black Tailmon's tried it, I hope it works."

Stegomon began to breathe slowly, and his eyes began to droop. "That's right," Black Tailmon said, "Just calm down and we'll go to sleep…"

The dinosaur's eyes began to droop, he was feeling tired and was about to drift to sleep, when a blast of greenish flame struck Black Tailmon in the side. As soon as her concentration was lost, Stegomon returned to normal.

Black Tailmon rubbed her head. "What the hell was that?" She looked over and saw that the attack had come from Cerberumon, during his battle with Anomalocarimon X and Machgaogamon.

Anomalocarimon X panted heavily as he stared at the demon dog. Cerberumon tackled the crustacean to the ground and began to rip and snarl at him. Anomalocarimon X pulled his tail back and struck the blade between the demon dog's eyes. "Stinger Surprise!"

Cerberumon screamed as he stumbled backwards. He even tripped over his back feet and landed on his rear. Machgoagamon charged forward, pulling his fist back. "Winning…."

The demon dog leapt back onto his feet, as he did, he smacked the bipedal wolf, throwing him backwards. He managed to land on his feet and continued to charge forward, his fists clenched tightly. He leapt into the air and slammed his fist directly into the injury from Anomalocarimon X's Tail Blade. The demon once again winced in pain.

The crustacean crossed his front pincers, then swung them apart, sending two blades of energy into the demon dog's face. His head was jerked back and he yelled in pain. Machgaogamon charged at the demon dog before dropping to the ground and sliding beneath Cerberumon's entire body and leapt back onto his feet. He clenched his knuckles and cried out, "Gaoga Tornado!"

He began to encircle the demon dog in a tight circle, punching and jabbing with all of his might. Cerberumon was assaulted over his entire body, and when Machgaogamon was finished, the demon dog was barely able to stand.

"S…Stegomon!" he shouted.

"Sorry, he's not gonna be much help."

Cerberumon shot his head around and saw a Patamon lying on the beach, snoring loudly. Black Taimon was standing in front of him, grinning. "Looks like Cat's Eye actually worked." She frowned, "I guess that means Hikari's Plotmon was right. Crap, that means I owe her now."

Cerberumon panted heavily as he stared at the four digimon assembled before him. "You don't frighten me!" he shouted, "I will kill you all!"

Anomalocarimon X placed his pincers into an X and threw them apart, sending two crossed blades of energy at the demon canine. Cerberumon leapt aside, but that left him open for an assault by Black Tailmon's Neko Punch technique, jabbing and punching into the side of his head.

The demon dog roared in anger. "Hell Fire!"

Green flames began to spew from his mouth, heading straight for Black Tailmon and Anomalocarimon X. Before it could strike them, however, Butterflymon darted in front and shouted out, "Sweet Pheromone!" The scales beneath her wings began to absorbed the flames before fluttering rapidly and firing bolts of lighting into Cerberumon, causing him to roar in pain.

Machgoagomon charged forward. He jumped into the air so he was level with Cerberumon's head. "Winning Knuckle," he grinned. He pulled his fist back and flung it forward as hard as he could, smashing it into his nose. Cerberumon stumbled backwards, before he regressed to his Child form of Black Gabumon.

Noriko turned towards Yamag and his new ally, Lt. Ivan, "Well, look who won."

Ivan did not seem to care, while Yamag was trembling with rage. "Blad Gabumon, grab him and retreat!"

His partner did not reply as he grabbed the snoring Patamon and ran past the humans to dive into the black truck. Ivan soon followed, and Yamag stared at his enemies. "This isn't over, not by a long shot!" He spun around and dove into the truck moments before it sped into the distance.

"Of course it's not over!" Yariko shouted, "You're part of me!" She gave a quick glance to Koji, then shouted again, "Part of us!"

Koji stared down at the shield, "Let's just get back to Tokyo, and hope that Miayag has some good new for us."

Jyou nodded. "Just let me get my deposit back, and we'll head home." He turned around and the color drained from his face; lying in shrapnel a few feet before him was the remains of the scuba gear that he had rented.

"Ahh!" he screamed, almost ripping the hair from his head.

"Hey, calm down Jyou," Gomamon X said, "Maybe the guy'll be understanding if we tell him that it got damaged in a fight."

The older man sighed as he reached into his back pocket, "Well, whatever, we got the weapon, so at least it was worth it." His hand fished inside his pocket for a moment but found nothing. "Hey, where's my wallet?"

111

Miayag was seated at the desk in Taichi's room, with the Machina Codex lying on the surface. She had been searching through the ancient tome for the past few hours. She paused momentarily to recall the day when this book had been freed from its prison. It was the day her congregation, the Digitalatri, invaded the city known as Nightsun, in the former Digital World. She did not like to remember those days; she chose to believe it was a different person who was so ruthless and bloodthirsty, and in many ways it was.

"How's it going?"

She glanced to the door and saw her Plotmon trotting inside. She ran a hand through her hair and lend back in the seat. "I think I need a rest."

Her partner did smile. "The others are back."

She simply nodded. "I hope they have better news for us then I do for them."

They walked into the living room, where Sora's group and Noriko's group had returned. Hikari was welcoming them back, and her cousin slowly entered the fray. She smiled as she saw a blond-haired head among the others. "Hello Michael Barton."

The American turned to her. He nodded slightly. "Hey."

The Priestess smiled. "I was happy to hear that Mimi gave birth to your son, how is she?"

He shrugged. "She's all right, just a little tired."

She turned to the others. "How did you fare?"

Takuya grinned as he held up the bow that he liberated from KomagaTake and Koji simply held up the shield. Miayag gasped in surprise. "You were successful! Excellent."

"Whose are they?" Koji asked.

She nodded. "Yes, that is the Shield of Glaucio, First Chosen of Metal." She turned to Koji, "And that is the Bow of Abungu, First Chosen of Forest."

"Are you sure?" Noriko asked.

"I have read the entire Machina Codex this day, I am certain." She then frowned, "And it would have to be those two…"

"What?" Sora asked, "What do you mean?"

"As you are aware, in order to activate those weapons, they would need the power of Forest and Metal, yet, those that held that power are…no longer with us."

Sora nodded slowly. "Keeya and Iduia."

"So what does that mean?" Noriko asked, "They're useless to us?"

Miayag began to rub her chin, "Perhaps not." She turned to Michael, "You received the ability to evolve Betamon X to Megaseadramon X from Iduia, correct?"

He nodded. "Yes…"

"Then maybe the Shield of Metal can be of use to us, as the Power of Metal is within Michael."

"Really?" he asked.

"Perhaps, but we would only know for certain if we were to attempt it."

Michael glanced to his partner. The reptile digimon shrugged. "I'm game if you are."

"We can try that later," Sora said, staring at Miayag, "Did you find out anything about putting Taichi back together?"

She hesitated for a moment, then glanced to the floor. "I…I am sorry," she said, "I have spent this entire day searching through the Machina Codex, to see if there may be some means, but…I have not found any. And to be perfectly honest, I do not have anymore ideas."

Sora felt her heart began to fall. "You mean….that's it? There's nothing we can do?"

She smiled. "You mustn't think that way, there will be a way to return them to normal, we need only find it."

The redhead turned her attention to Takuya, and she only thought of Taichi.

"This is just great!" Plotmon X grumbled, "Ya got any more good news?"

Takuya hesitated for a moment. "Um…we didn't get these weapons without….trouble…"

"What trouble?" Miayag asked.

"Miach was there."

"And Yamag was after our weapon," Koji frowned, "They're apparently working with Hypnos."

"Hypnos?" Hikari gasped, "M….Mitsuo….? No, he wouldn't, he…just wouldn't do something like this!"

"How can you be so sure?" Noriko asked, "He lied for so long, maybe he's nothing like you think he is."

"But…" She glanced to the ground. Sora limped over and hugged her tightly.

There was a silence in the room, until Miayag cleared her throat. "Well, why don't we attempt to see if Michael can use the Shield of Metal?"

"Where?" he asked.

"Why not the roof of this building?"

"Sounds good to me."

They all traveled to the building's roof except for Hikari and Plotmon X, who had decided to make dinner for their guest and Tanna and Yariko, who were watching their infant counterparts. On the roof, Takuya and Koji were standing off to the side, while Jyou stood near the door. Noriko and Sora looked on nervously as Michael and Betamon X stood near the roof, with the Shield of Glaucio in his hand.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" the Daughter of Darkness asked, "I mean, remember what happened to Yamato and Taichi."

Miayag nodded. "Yes, from what you have told me, while Taichi and Yamato possessed the Katana of Fire and the Shotguns of Lucien, you and Maria attempted to energize those weapons, but your power of Darkness and her power of Earth were not compatible. This time, however, Michael already possesses the power of Metal, which he received from the Daughter of Metal, Iduia Ramiro. The only problem we may face is that there is not _enough_ of her power within him to activate that weapon, in which case, the worst that may happen is that they simply will not evolve. There should not be any harm done."

"Are you sure?" Jyou asked, "I mean, I was there when Taichi…kinda went nuts."

Michael glanced over his shoulder, "Well, I was there when Yamato went nuts, so I'm probably more scared then any of you, but I'm willing to give it a shot."

Miayag smiled, "Nothing will happen, I am certain."

Her Plotmon rolled her eyes. "Just great, are you trying to get us all killed?"

"Your superstitions are not appreciated," she replied.

Michael glanced down at Betamon X. "Are you ready?"

He shrugged. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

The blond man nodded and gripped the back handle of the shield tightly. "All right, here we go."

Miayag stood behind them, "Just clear your thoughts, think only of evolving, think only of merging together. Now, gather your energy, and evolve."

Betamon X took a deep breath and shouted out, "Betamon X evolve to…"

The others all held their breaths and waited…

…yet, nothing happened.

Michael frowned and stared at the shield. "Do you feel anything?"

He shrugged. "Kinda, but, it's like…I don't know, like it _wants_ to do something, but it can't."

She nodded. "It is just as I feared, you simply do not have the energy required to activate it."

"I want to try again," he said. He glanced at his partner, "If that's okay with you."

He nodded. "Yeah, I want to try until we get this right."

Hikari smiled. "I admire your determination, it reminds me of Taichi."

Takuya yawned. "Well, this is getting boring, call me when something happens." He turned and began to walk inside, then turned back around. "Hey Jyou, heads up!"

The older man blinked as Takuya threw the Bow of Abungu into his hands. "Don't throw that!" he gasped.

Koji stared at the goggle-wearer, "Where are you going?"

"The can," he replied, walking downstairs with his Agumon following.

Sora chuckled slightly. "I think he got Taichi's mannerisms too."

Michael continued his attempt to activate the shield, but as before, he was unsuccessful. The last attempt was the most successful, as the weapon actually began to glow, but still, it simply was not enough.

"Damn," he panted, resting the shield on the roof.

Miayag nodded slightly. "Maybe it would be best if you were to have a rest."

"Yeah…yeah…"

Jyou walked over. "Don't worry about it, you gave it your best shot."

He patted him on the back, and then all hell broke loose. Without any warning, the Shield of Glaucio began to exploded with light, as did the Bow of Abungu, which was still in Jyou's hands. Both young men were enveloped by the mixture of gray and green light. Their partners had only a moment to be shocked, because they too were soon pulled into the twirling sphere of light. The other Chosen and digimon leapt to safety as the cyclone of light floated into the night sky and exploded into a long, serpent creature, which was covered with metal armor.

"What the hell just happened?" Noriko screamed, staring at Miayag.

The Priestess could only stare, "They…they have evolved into Metalseadramon."

"Metalseadramon _X_, you mean," her Plotmon added.

"I don't know," Noriko's Plotmon said, "He kinda looks like Gigaseadramon…"

"How?" Noriko shouted again, "You said he didn't have enough energy."

She shook her head, "I…I do not….Wait, p-perhaps….when Jyou touched Michael's shoulder, the…the energy within Jyou, that of Water that he received from Lynna Jeffry, mingled with the power of Metal within Michael."

"But you said there wasn't enough power!" Noriko shouted back.

The Priestess nodded. "Yes, yes, but, the power of Water within Jyou may have given Michael enough energy to active his weapon. It would not be out of the question, as Taichi and Yamato needed _two_ powers: Taichi had Earth _and_ Fire, while Yamato had Darkness _and_ Light before they could achieve the Mega level."

"But how?" Sora asked.

She began to nod to herself, pleased that she had arrived at a conclusion. "Because the Shield of Metal wanted to evolve them, but it did not have enough energy, so it was seeking that power, and when Jyou touched Michael, the shield pulled the power of water into itself, and thus, they evolved together."

The redhead blinked. "Um…all right, if you say so, but…how can the Shield of Metal work with…Water?"

Piyomon looked to her, "And Jyou was holding the Bow too."

Noriko's Plotmon nodded, "And the Bow of Forest isn't compatible with Metal _or_ Water."

The Priestess smiled. "It was successful, a miracle in itself."

Sora stared up at Metalseadramon X, who was still merely hovering in the sky. "This is making me really nervous."

Koji narrowed his eyes, "How are we sure they're still in control?"

"I am sure they are," Miayag said, "But maybe it would be a good idea to make certain." She stepped towards the edge of the roof and stared up at the hovering digimon. "Metalseadramon X!" she called.

There was no response.

She frowned slightly. "Michael! Betamon X!" she called, "Jyou! Gomamon X!"

There was still no response.

She tried to hide her worry; it had to have worked correctly, it just had to. Yet, the digimon still refused to even move, maybe their had been an error in evolution, and his body could not handle the energy and experienced what computers do when they 'freeze.' She was about to give this reason to the others, when her Plotmon called out to him. "Hey, are you awake up there?"

Metalseadramon X twisted his head down to the roof and seemed to notice them for the first time.

"I've got a bad feeling about this!" Noriko shouted.

The metallic Mega's eyes drifted past the humans until he focused on the digimon. He suddenly roared with might and power. The Chosen and digimon on the roof used their arms to shield their faces from the force of the blast of wind. Piyomon and Plotmon were both sent sailing backwards where they crashed into the satellite dish, actually succeeding in bashing a hole through the back.

"Are you guys okay?" Sora shouted.

Piyomon attempted to stand, but she quickly lost her balance and fell onto Plotmon, who appeared to be unconscious. Before their two partners could even call out their names, a mighty roar blasted through the night sky. The Deep Saver shot towards them, mouth open wide.

Koji braced himself as Gaomon leapt into the air, his body covered with energy as he evolved to his highest form, Machgoagamon. The wolf man slammed his fist the mega's jaw, sending him twirling into the sky. The wolf twisted in the sky and landed gracefully on an adjacent building roof. Metalseadramon X snarled and fired a large blue torpedo of energy from his mouth. Machgaogamon leapt out of the way and the attack struck the various antennas on the roof, obliterating them instantly.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Noriko shouted.

"You're not helping!" Sora shouted back, "Miayag, what's…?"

The Priestess only stared at the battle. "I…I…."

Her Plotmon looked up to her. "Megumi…"

Sora sighed and shook her head. "All right, fine. We need Takuya, now!"

However, there was no need, as the sudden loss of the soccer game on television, caused Takuya and his Agumon to come charging onto the roof. "What the hell are you guys do…" His voice stopped as he stared into the sky and saw Metalseadramon X fighting Machgaogamon."

"What the fuck?"

"What are you doing?" Koji shouted, "He needs help!"

He blinked. "Uh, right."

His Agumon quickly evolved to RiseGreymon and flew into the sky. Machgaogamon was standing on a building roof and chuckled slightly. "It's about time you got here."

"Yeah yeah…" he muttered, "What the hell's going on?"

He pointed to Metalseadramon X, "That's Michael, Betamon, Jyou and Gomamon."

He blinked. "What?"

"They Jogressed together or something, the point is, we can't hurt them."

"So what do you suggest we do?"

The Deep Saver roared and shot forward and the two Fully Evolved digimon dove to the side. "I'm just trying to stay alive right now!"

Metalseadramon X spun around and caught sight of Risegreymon. He opened his mouth and fired another spear of blue energy. The dinosaur used his gun barrel arm to bat the energy aside, then pointed the same gun at the metal serpent. "Trident Revolver!"

As before, three bullets fired quickly from the barrel and struck Metalseadramon X in the side of his nose. His head was thrown back and he actually did roar in pain.

"What did I tell you?" Machgaogamon shouted, "We can't.."

He was not able to finish as the Deep Saver whipped his tail around and smacked him in the back, throwing him off of the roof. Risegreymon swooped down and grabbed him before he would have smashed into the pavement.

"I thought you knew how to watch your back," the dinosaur remarked with a smirk, dropping him onto the roof.

Machgoagamon turned to retort back, but instead roared as loud as he could, sending the sound waves through his cannons. Risegreymon spun around just in time to see Metalseadramon X sailing backwards under the force of the wolf's attack. If Machgaogamon had not executed his Howling Cannon, the Deep Saver would have punctured the dinosaur's back.

"Why don't you watch your own back, buddy," the wolf smirked in response.

On the roof, the others watched their battle with heated intensity. After watching Metalseadramon X bash his head into Risegreymon, and Machgaogamon trying to help his friend while not hurting his other friends, Miayag's Plotmon twisted her head to her partner. "Megumi, aren't we gonna help them?"

The Priestess did not respond. Instead, she threw her Staff of Yuushi onto the roof. "This was my doing! It was my…tenacity, my stubbornness, my…unyielding arrogance!" She twirled to Noriko and Sora, "You did warn me, but I would not listen, I would not hear it! I knew it all, I knew everything, and now…now I have yet again caused you all harm."

"She's got more in common with Taichi then she realizes," Sora muttered.

Miayag collapsed to the ground, holding her head, "What good am I? I tried to do as Taichi would, but I have failed, miserably."

"And Hikari," the redhead added.

The door to the roof suddenly swung open, and the young woman in question, and Plotmon X, charged onto the top of the building. "What's going on up…" she, too, found she could not speak as saw Metalseadramon X in the sky, fighting against Risegreymon and Machgaogamon.

"Hikari!" Sora gasped.

"What's going on?"

The Daughter of Fire began to explain it to her, mentioning to Miayag. When Hikari saw her cousin collapsed on the roof, she rushed to her side. "Megumi?"

"This is my doing, my fault," she said, "I just wanted to With Miayag in regret and sorrow, her Plotmon was not able to evolve, added to that, Sora's Piyomon and Noriko's Plotmon were both still injured from their trip through the satellite dish, so Takuya's Risegreymon and Koji's Machgaogamon were on their own. Fortunately, these two Fully Evolved digimon were anything but weak.

Machgoagamon was stranded on the building's roof as Risegreymon and Metalseadramon X hovered in the sky. There was silence for a moment, before the metal serpent shot forward, his teeth open wide. Risegreymon whipped his hands around and caught the edges of the open jaw, halting the Deep Savers forward movement. However, his momentum remained the same, and his serpent body coiled forward, wrapping tightly around the dinosaur.

The Dragon Roar member pushed Metalseadramon X's jaw away from him as best he could. "Come on, guys," he said, "If you're in there, you've got to fight it, come on, you wouldn't want to eat me anyway, I'd probably make you shit for a week."

On the rooftop below them, Machgaogamon readied his fists. The Cyborg digimon crouched down as far as he could, then leapt into the air with as much force as he could call upon; once he had reached Metalseadramon X, he pulled his fist back and shouted, "Winning Knuckle!" He slammed his fist forward as hard as he could, sending a shock wave through the metal serpent's body. It did not cause him to release his prisoner, but his eyes did slowly drift towards the wolf man. Before the serpent could form an attack, Machgaogamon unleashed a series of quick Winning Knuckles in such quick succession, that his strength finally gave out and he released Risegreymon from his grip. The wolf and the Deep Saver then both began to fall towards the ground. Risegreymon could only save one, and he grabbed Machgaogamon, leaving Metalseadramon X to crash into the street below. Thankfully, the drivers had jumped clear of their vehicles seconds before they were crushed.

Hikari pulled herself away from her cousin and peered over the ledge. She gasped and placed a hand over her mouth; Metalseadramon X lay motionless in the street below, surrounded by glass and shattered metal. "W…Oh my God! Are they….they're all right, right?"

No one could answer her.

Takuya shrugged. "Well, at least we stopped him before he hurt anybody."

Koji snorted, "Yeah, lucky us…"

The other young man glanced to his partner. "Risegreymon, put Machgaogamon down, and then go see if you can move Metalseadramon."

His dinosaur partner nodded and was about to place Machgoagomon on the roof, when the ground below them suddenly exploded with light. All eyes watched with horror and awe as Metalseadramon's glowing body ascended back into the night sky. After a moment, they merely thought he was about to regress back into his previous forms, but this did not occur, however. His body began to twist and change, shrinking and growing, until a completely different digmon took his place.

"What the hell is that?" Takuya gasped.

Koji shook his head, "He…he…I don't know. It's a digimon, thought."

"Duh, but who?"

"Plesiomon," Plotmon X answered.

"Plesiomon _X!"_ Miayag's Plotmon stressed.

"Yeah, whatever."

Risegreymon and Machgaogamon stared at the newly-formed digimon floated back into the sky.

"Just great," the wolf muttered.

The dinosaur shrugged as best he could, "Well, ya ready for round two?"

Despite the situation, the wolf smiled, "Yeah, bring it on!"

To be continued……..


	8. Weapons of the Gods: Chapter 3

_My name is Tanna…Tanna Yagami if you want to get technical. But, the strange thing is, my name is really Taichi Yagami, yeah, that's a guy's name, but if Tanna sounds like a girl's name, you'd be right, because I am a girl. Confused? I sure as hell am._

_You see, I'm the feminine part of Taichi Yagami, merged with the power of Wind that he got from Anna Danika when they fought GranDracmon. Taichi and Yamato Ishida fought the Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro, and, well, simply put, they lost, in the worst way. But instead of dying, their data got separated into their different personalities, each one merged with a power of the Daughter of the First Chosen. _

_But what made the First Chosen so powerful was their Holy Weapons. My cousin, the Priestess Miayag, has the Staff of Yuushi, Takuya-Taichi's heroic side, has the Katana of Fire, Koji, Yamato's heroic side, has the Shotguns of Lucien, and the rest were hidden in the Digital World, but that world was destroyed, and they came to Earth, two fell to Japan, the Bow of Abungu and the Shield of Metal. Miayag thought that Michael might be able to use the Shield, but when he tried, he, Betamon X, Jyou and Gomamon X got pulled together into Metalseadramon X. Risegreymon and Machgaogamon beat him, but then he changed into a different digimon, Plesiomon X!_

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_Digimon Gog_

_The Weapons of the Gods:_

_Chapter 3_

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Located on the Tokyo Bay waterfront, was an waterfront warehouse that had recently been purchased by the government agency known as Hypnos, It was originally going to be used as storage, but their chief scientist, Akihrio Kurata, had forged the papers necessary to utilize it first. Inside the abandoned building, a group of engineers were constructing a large metallic circle that was only inches from the ceiling.

Kurata stood on the balcony and was overseeing the operation. If he could not construct this Digital Gate, his life could very well be in danger. The Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro, had killed Taichi Yagami and Yamato Ishida, what defense could he pose?

"Commander!"

Kurata turned and saw Captain Kouki and his Gotsumon partner approaching. "Yes, what is it?"

"Sir, I have some unfortunate news to report."

"What?"

"Both teams have failed to recover the weapons."

He nodded slowly. "They were taken by the X-Chosen?"

Kouki nodded. "Yes."

The color drained from the middle-aged man's face. He saw visions of his death at the hands of the Fallen Chosen. The only way to safeguard his life was to keep this information quiet until they could recover those weapons from the other Chosen. He was about to tell Kouki his plan, when both men heard an elderly voice from above.

"We didn't get the weapons?"

Kurata's face almost turned completely pale white while Kouki stood instantly at attention. They glanced up to the rafters and saw the elderly Tatsuo Juro crouched on the wooden I-beams. He used his arms to descend to the lower balcony and landed before them. "M…Master Juro!" Kouki managed to salute.

He only stared. "Your teams could not secure the two weapons?"

He shook his head. "No, sir…"

"And Takenouchi and Kawada have them."

"Yes sir."

Juro reached into his jacket pocket and removed his Flail of Chance. "Then it would appear that I must take this it my own hands. Kouki, come with me, Kurata I want that gate finished by the time I return."

Kurata frowned as turned back to watch the Hypnos technicians begin to weld the giant metal circle together. "I've got to get out of this deal."

111

In Shinjuku, atop the apartment building in which Hikari's apartment was located, hovered the Mega digimon, Plesiomon X. Risegreymon and Machgaogamon stood atop an adjacent building, staring at the floating Deep Saver.

Down below, atop Hikari's apartment building, stood the Chosen, except for Jyou, Michael, Gomamon X and Betamon X. While attempting to utilize the Shield of Metal, they were pulled into each other and evolved to Metalseadramon X, but the metallic Deep Saver was defeated by Risegreymon and Machgaogamon, yet another digimon soon took his place.

"I don't understand," Sora said, shaking her head, "Where did _he_ come from? He was Metalseadramon X a minute ago!"

"Slide Evoution," Miayag replied, "I had heard rumors, but I did not think such a feat was possible."

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.

"Metalseadramon X was undoubtedly the Mega form of Betamon X, and once he was defeated, the Mega form of Gomamon X, Plesiomon X appeared. Metalseadramon X slide evolved to Plesiomon X."

Takuya glanced at her, "Yeah, well, who cares how it happened, we still have to get rid of him."

"They're still our friends inside," Koji shouted, "We can't hurt them!"

"Well, I'm not letting them run lose all over the city and risk hurting countless people! Risegreymon, do what you have to."

The dinosaur man stared down Plesiomon X and narrowed his eyes. "All right, listen up, you've got only one chance to surrender, you'd better take it."

The Deep Saver simply roared.

Risegreymon sighed and pointed his giant revolver arm at him. "Fine, if that's the way you want it, then you're gonna regret it! "Trident Revolver!" Three metallic bullets erupted from the barrel and shot towards the Deep Saver. Plesiomon X opened his mouth and roared as loud as he could, sending out a shockwave that destroyed the three bullets and even threw Risegreymon backwards. He tried to right himself, but before he could, Plesiomon X whipped around behind him, flipped his tail around and fired a mighty jet of water that slammed into the dinosaur's back at point-blank range. Risegreymon was flung into the ground where he smashed into the pavement.

"Oh shit!" Takuya screamed, "Risegreymon!"

Koji stared at Pelsiomon X, then twisted his head to the building on the left where Machgaogamon was standing. "All right, buddy, you've got to take him down, but please try not to hurt him!"

"I'll do my best," the wolf said, "But I can't promise anything."

Plesiomon X glared at Machgaogamon and roared. The wolf braced himself through the sound-wave onslaught, but the screams were too much for him. He had to cancel out the waves, so he took a deep breath and screamed as well. "Howling Cannon!"

His cannons began to fire waves of sound that smashed into Plesiomon X's sound waves, shattering most of the glass windows in the area. Machgaogamon leapt into the air until he was level with Plesiomon X. He pulled his fist back. "Winning Knuckle!" He punched the Deep Saver in the snout as hard as he could. Plesiomon X hovered back slightly, but he slammed his head as hard as he could into Machgoagomon's head. This head-butt proved too much for the already-weakened Cyborg and he fell to the ground as well.

"Oh fuck!" Takuya screamed, "That's it, we're done."

Sora and Noriko glanced at their partners, still too injured from their recent trip through the satellite dish. "We're out, sorry."

Hikari pulled her digivice from her skirt pocket. "All right, Plotmon, it's up to us."

Her X-digimon nodded and charged forward. "Right! I'm ready when you are!"

"_Juushi_, wait!"

She turned when she heard her cousin all out to her. "We should do this together," Miayag said, walking to stand beside her. She held the Staff of Yuushi tightly, "Kuzuhamon will surely be of great aid."

Hikari smiled and nodded. "Yeah, thank you." She turned back around. "All right, Plotmons, let's…"

Before she could respond, Plesiomon X executed another of his Sorrow Blue attack, that struck into the building roof at full force. Sora, back to using her crutches, was easily caught in the shockwave, but as she was thrown back, she twisted around and fell through the door feet first, or in her case, _foot_ first. She was able to grab the hand rails and stop herself before she fell down the stairs.

Takuya and Koji were able to weather the shockwaves, and Noriko slid backwards, but remained on her feet. Hikari grabbed an antenna to keep herself from flying backwards, but Miayag was caught full force and sent tumbling across the roof. The only thing that saved her from falling from the roof was the ledge of the opposite side. Unfortunately, she hit it with her head.

"Megumi!" her Plotmon shouted, running as fast she could to her partner's side. "Megumi, are you okay?"  
The Priestess slowly lifted her head, only to have it fall back to her chest.

Hikari stared at Plesiomon X, then twisted around. Her cousin was lying unconscious on the ground, but she had dropped the Staff of Yuushi. Hikari glanced back at Plesiomon X. She took a deep breath and grabbed the weapon.

"Hikari, what are you doing?" Takuya shouted.

The brown-haired young woman gripped the weapon tightly. "I am a granddaughter of Yuushi too. The power that I had when I was a kid was probably an aspect of Yuushi's Fate power, I still have some of those abilities…."

"You can't!" Takuya shouted again, "Look what it did to Jyou and Michael!"

"I have to try," she said, gripping it even tighter. She tried to call upon the power that she long felt within her. She did feel something bubble up from within, but it was no where near as strong as she thought.

She had just begun to lose hope, when behind her, Miayag slowly opened her eyes and saw Hikari holding the Staff of Yuushi. The Priestess instantly realized what her cousin was attempting. Miayag was barely conscious, despite her mighty power, a simple blow to the head was still potent enough to knock her out. Before unconsciousness claimed her once more, with great effort, she lifted her palm and fired a beam of gold light that struck the brown-haired woman in the back. Before Hikari could even comprehend what had occurred, the Staff of Yuushi began to glow and she and Plotmon X were pulled towards one another. They became enveloped in an explosion of light.

"Plotmon X warp evolve to…."

Hikari's body instantly turned to data, and was absorbed by her partner. Plotmon X's body grew larger, becoming longer and snake-like. Purple fur sprouted along her body, wings erupted from her back and black and white stripped horns shot from her head.

"…Holydramon X!"

The massive dragon hovered above the roof, the light from the evolution faded. Noriko panted. "I…I don't like this…"

Plesiomon X did not seem frightened-he did not even seem to care. He kept his attention focused on the Chosen on the roof. He whipped his tail around and fired another geyser of water. The humans and digimon on the roof braced themselves for the attack that would probably kill them, but Holydramon X shot in front of the blast, taking the water attack at full force. Once the geyser had stopped, the purple dragon slammed her head into Plesiomon X, throwing him further into the sky. Before the Deep Saver could respond, the Holy Dragon whipped him with her tail, throwing him further away.

"She's moving him away from the city!" Takuya grinned, "Their in control! Yeah, that's my sister! I knew she'd handle it, I wasn't worried at all!"

Koji shot him a glance, but then turned back. "I wish I could see what's going on out there."

Takuya blinked, then ran to the edge of the building and looked to the street. Risegreymon was still lying in the shattered pavement.

"Risegreymon!" he shouted, "Quit sleeping and get up here!"

111

Holydramon X had forced Plesiomon X over the water of Tokyo Bay. Once they were safely away from innocent people, the Holy Dragon hovered back to a safe distance. She stared at the Deep Saver before speaking in a deep, rough, feminine voice. "Plesiomon," she said, "Please, you don't want to do this."

Plesiomon X answered by screaming as loud as he could. Holydramon X braced herself and weathered the attack. "I'm not going to fight you!" she shouted.

The Deep Saver fired another Sorrow Blue attack, but once again, Holydramon X did not retaliate. "Please," she said, "Jyou, Michael, Gomamon, Betamon, I know you're in there. The power, it's so easy to lose yourselves, but you've got to regain control!"

Plesiomon X roared again, but this time it was only a roar, not Sorrow Blue. Holydramon X saw this as a good sign and continued. "You're lost, you can't find yourselves, but you've got to!"

The Deep Saver began to fire rounds of his Water Tail Blaster, but the Holy Dragon did not move, and simply winced with every strike. "T…think about Mimi!" she shouted, "Think about Kiku! Think about your sons! Use them as a beacon! Find your way back!"

Plesiomon X ceased his attack and simply stared at Holydramon X. "Please," the dragon said, "You have the strength, you can do it."

The Deep Saver remained motionless for a while longer before his body finally began to glow in bright light. He began to fall towards the water below, and his body separated into four figures: Gomamon X, Betamon X, Michael and Jyou. The two humans were still holding tight to Glaucio's Shield of Metal and Abungu's Bow of Forest. Holydramon X stared in horror as her unconscious friends were moments from vanishing beneath the waves when an armored bird suddenly appeared from nowhere. It grabbed the falling Chosen and Digimon and swooped back into the air. Holydramon X blinked as was able to make out a human male seated on the bird's back…a Chosen and a digimon, of course.

"Hey!" she shouted, about to fly after them, but the bird continued to climb higher into the sky until it was at the same altitude as the Holy Dragon. She twisted her head around and was able to see that the giant bird had stopped next to a small floating platform of some kind, like a hover-board or something. Riding that hover-board was a figure that she could never forget, the Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro.

Juro crossed his arms as he stared at the dragon. "I have seen Yagami and Ishida fuse with their digimon, I know that Miayag is capable of such a feat, but neither I nor Kurata was able to understand how that was possible, now we know, it is the Weapons of the First Chosen. Very interesting."

Holydramon X had heard everything he had just said, but her ears focused on only one word. "Kurata?" she asked, her voice quavering, "But…he's the one from Hypnos, right?"

Juro smirked. "Ah, you're worried that your lover, Yamaki, is behind this, right?"

The Dragon hesitated, waiting for him to give an answer, but he only turned to the man riding the armored bird. "Captain Kouki, please return those…specimens, to Kurata at once."

"No!" Holydramon X shouted.

Juro sneered. "Those weapons will be mine!" He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a familiar Digi-tama. He tossed it into the air, where it exploded into a familiar creature that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Metal Piranhmon."

"I'm glad that you remember me," the Deep Saver chuckled, stretching out his fins.

"Of course, you killed my brother!"

Metal Piranhmon turned to face Juro. "I thought Plotmon X was a part of her as well."

"I am both Plotmon X and Hikari Yagami," Holydramon X answered.

"And yet you speak of your brother…"

"Agumon was always like an older brother to Plotmon too. So you did more then just destroy _one_ sibling relationship."

"Oh please!" Juro sighed, "You keep going on and on about us killing Yagami and Ishida, but if you haven't noticed, we failed! The only thing we succeeded in doing was making more of them! Takuya could easily be a replacement for Taichi, and as for Tanna…well, I'm sure you wanted a sister."

"I didn't need one," Holydramon X replied, "Taichi and Agumon were the only siblings I wanted."

Juro crossed his arms and mentioned once more the Captain Kouki. "Go, I will hold her off."

"Sir!" he saluted, "Thunderbirdmon, let's move at once!"

Juro turned back to Holydramon X and gave a slight smile. "He's a little over-anxious, but what can I say, I have no legal seniority over him, he follows what I say because Kurata told him to. A perfect soldier, one that will be rewarded when I have achieved my goal."

"What goal is that?" Holydramon X sneered.

"I will make this world a perfect place; I will eliminate all class systems, no more upper, middle, lower, no more rich or poor. All will be equal."

"That's impossible! It's the differences that make us who we are."

"Differences, yes, persecution and arrogance? No, that is not needed. You should know this better then anyone, were you treated as an equal when you joined the other Chosen?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I was."

"I was not merely speaking to the part of you that is Hikari, but the entire whole. I am saying, the part of you that is Plotmon, were you treated as an equal? Did the others trust you after your time with Myotismon?"

"Yes."

"Are you certain?" he asked, "Because the tales that were told to me by Miach and Yamag were that Hikari was just a weak, sick child that always needed to be protected, while Tailmon was a security risk that they really didn't want."

The dragon did not answer, but she was clearly affected, as her eyes twitched slightly. "Yes," Juro smiled, "I'm telling the truth, aren't I?"

Holydramon X continued to stare at him. "_Miach is my brother's dark side, so he might just be lying. Or…or is it because he's his dark side that he doesn't care if he tells the truth? Was I really just a liability to the others? No, that can't be true! It can't be!"_

"That's not going to work!" Holydramon X shouted defiantly.

Juro sighed. "Very well, I thought that you would understand how I felt, seeing as how _you_ were the one that joined late, just as I was."

"Why? When we first met, you said the same thing! Why do you want me to join with you so badly?"

He sighed once again. "Because, Hikari…" He stared at Holydramon X directly in the face, "Because, Yuushi was not your grandfather. _I_ am your grandfather."

Holydramon X's eyes opened as wide as they could. "W…what?"

Juro's face was serious for another moment before he began to laugh. "No, sorry, I've been dying to try out that line for a while now."

The dragon's eyes turned back into narrow slits.

"No," Juro continued, chuckling slightly, "I wanted you to join me, simply because I felt a similar spirit. I thought you would understand where I am coming from."

She sighed, "Maybe I do, but that doesn't mean I'll forgive you for what you did! Now, either get out of my way, or I'm going through you!"

Metal Piranhmon roared with laughter. "You…you are newly evolved, and you think you can defeat me? I have been fighting long before you were born and/or hatched! But very well, if you truly want a fight, then so be it!"

Holydramon X prepared herself, but before she was even able to look at the Deep Saver, he screamed, "3D Laser!"

The purple dragon had just enough time to brace herself as a beam of light shot from Metal Piranhmon's mouth, striking her in the side. She felt pain shoot through her entire body, but she managed to twist her long body around so that her tail was hanging below her. She took a deep breath, pulled her head back and expunged a massive flame that spiraled into Metal Piranhmon. The Deep Saver was not harmed, but he did wince, he actually winced! Holydramon X smiled slightly to herself. She was able to hurt him, not much, but it proved that he was not invincible!

"I don't know what you're smiling about!" he shouted, "Because things are about to get much worse! Max Power Vice!" He shot forward at full speed, biting down on her mid-section with his razor teeth. She roared in pain and struggled to break free. The Deep Saver whipped his tail around and the chain that connected his tail to the metal plunger wrapped tightly around her body. As he bit down, he pulled with his tail. Holydramon X struggled to break free before she was torn in half.

"Rising Destroyer!"

Metal Piranhmon's pupils glanced to his right just in time to see six large beams strike him in the side of his body. He released his grips on Holydramon X and hovered at attention before Juro. Both he and his insidious human partner watched as Risegreymon appeared in the sky. On his back was Takuya and Koji, while holding tightly to his legs was Machgaogamon.

"I'm so glad you are okay!" Holydramon X breathed a sigh of relief, "But a Hypnos agent took Jyou and the others!"

"Hypnos?" Koji asked, "He's working with Hypnos?"

Holydramon X nodded, sadly. "What if Mitsuo…"

Takuya growled as he clenched his fists. "If that bastard is responsible, then he's getting _two_ beatings, one for this, and the other one for making Hikari cry like that! I'll kill him myself!"

"Easy," Koji said, "Calm down."

"Yeah…yeah…"

"Ya know," Risegreymon huffed, "It's hard enough dragging Machgaogamon, but with you two on my back, I'm not gonna be able to do much."

"Get on my back!" Holydramon X shouted, "I'll be able to maneuver even with passengers."

Takuya and Koji nodded at one another; then leapt onto the back of the purple dragon. All three digimon readied themselves to attack, but Metal Piranhmon struck first. "3D Laser!"

His attack was aiming for Risegreymon's feet, hoping to knock Machgaogamon from the dinosaur's grip, but Holydramon X executed her Holy Blaze technique, striking the Deep Saver in the side and throwing his aim off. His attack harmlessly struck the water.

Risegreymon swung his feet up, allowing Machgaogamon to twist around in the air before coming close enough to Metal Piranhmon. He executed his Winning Knuckle attack, slamming his fist into the piranha's side. He caught his metal plunger tail before falling into free fall, then used it to flip around his body higher into the Piranhmon followed him, but he took his eyes off of Risegreymon, who fired his Trident Revolver, striking his side with three chrome bullets. Metal Piranhmon was hurt, but he was still able to twirl around quickly, his metal tail whipping into Risegreymon's side with enough force to cause him to moan. Despite this injury, he was still able to grab Machgaogamon as the wolf fell from the sky.

"Is that the best you've got?" the Deep Saver asked, cracking his neck.

"I'm getting tired of him," Holydramon X said, "Let's see if this works. Apocalypse!"

She fired from her mouth a large ball of energy that shot into the sky. Once it was high enough, it exploded into countless glowing shards that began to fall towards the Earth.

"Oh, kick ass!" Risegreymon grinned, "You'll never dodge all of those!"

Behind Metal Piranhmon, Juro was still standing on his floating hover board. He grinned as he held up his Flail of Chance. Takuya and Koji instantly recognized what was about to happen, after all, it was how he killed Taichi and Yamato.

"Brace yourselves!" Koji ordered, "Something bad's about to happen!"

Juro held his weapon about his head and twirled the chain portion once. Suddenly, Holydramon X's energy shards changed direction and began to fall directly over her and the others. They tried to move out of the way, but they could not do so in time. The energy shards sliced through their bodies. Takuya and Koji were not hit, thankfully, but the three digimon were, and they began to fall. Risegreymon and Machgaogamon returned to Agumon and Gaomon, while Holydramon X split back into Hikari and Plotmon X. The two females should have lost consciousness, but they were stronger then even they thought, as they were fully awake. The young woman still had the Staff of Yuushi, which she held tightly to her body as she slammed into the water below. She broke through the surface a moment later.

As Takuya and Koji fell to Tokyo Bay, their eyes drifted to their digimon, who were falling at a slightly faster rate. The water quickly approached and they closed their eyes as they smashed through the surface. They emerged moments later, breathing deeply.

"He's gonna kill us," Koji panted.

"I know," Takuya shouted back, "We've got to think of something, fast!"

"We need to evolve," his Agumon said.

"But we can't," Gaomon replied, sadly, "At least not stronger then Metal Piranhmon."

"We can't give up!" Takuya protested.

"We can't beat them," Koji sighed, "We can't evolve to the Mega level, we can use the weapons correctly. If we were the real Taichi and Yamato we could."

"But we are," Takuya said, "We can! We can do it! We're pure Fire and Light! We've got the power, we just need to find the drive, the reason! I want to save Sora!"

"Noriko," Koji said.

"Our friends."

"The city."

Takuya grinned. "I want to save the whole world!"

Both young men heard a loud roar of laughter. They strained their necks to stare at Juro, who had his arms crossed while he stood on the hovering metallic circle. "Spare me your self-righteous rambling! I have heard it from your predecessors, those you call the First Chosen! Your comments mean nothing, you are still at the end of your lives."

His eyes glanced over to Hikari and Plotmon X, who were floating in the water. "I think I shall start with you!" He chuckled, "If I kill you as a human, not as a merged digimon, I shouldn't have to worry about dealing with four of you! Metal Piranhmon!"

His Deep Saver partner opened his metal jaws. "3D…"

Takuya suddenly screamed, his body erupting with flames of intense orange color. Koji stared at his friend, wondering how he had found the energy to fuel that rage. He instantly realized that it was the desire to protect Hikari. Koji thought about how he would react if Juro was about to kill Noriko right before his eyes. He was not sure if it was the energy he felt from Takuya, or simply the excitement o the situation, but he felt a rage filling up inside him as well. His body was not able to contain that rage and beams of light exploded from his chest. The two geysers of energy erupted into the sky and exploded.

"Agumon warp evolve to…ShineGreymon!" A giant robotic dragon man, with large sharp wings on his back and a wiggling metal tail.

"Gaomon warp evolve to…MirageGaogamon!" A bipedal wolf covered with blue armor, and three sharp claws on his gauntlets and a red cape billowing behind him.

Floating in the bay water, Hikari and Plotmon X both grinned as they stared up at the newly evolved digimon. As with Taichi, Yamato and Miayag, Takuya and Koji merged with their partners as they evolved to their mega forms.

Above, Juro was clearly surprised. "M...Megas?"

"Scared?" Shinegreymon chuckled.

"Don't bet on it!" Metal Piranhmon answered for his partner, "Take this! 3D Laser!"

He was aiming for ShineGreymon, but MirageGaogamon shot forward at incredible speed. "Gale Claw!" His energy-filled claw dissipated Metal Piranhmon's energy attack, and continued forward to slash his weapon across the Deep Saver's metal jaw. The sea digimon flipped around from the force, and his metal plunger-tail struck the wolf man on the nose. MirageGaogamon winced in pain, but remained in place. Metal Piranhmon did not give him even the slightest chance to recover. He executed his Max Power Vice , slamming his head into MirageGaogamon's wolf-shaped chest. As the wolf was caught in the recoil, the Deep Saver whipped his head around and slammed his sharp teeth into the wolf's leg.

"Let go of me!" he screamed, slashing his claws into the metal head, but without any use.

"Hang on, buddy!" ShineGreymon shouted, "Shining Burst!"

The glowing light from his wings struck Metal Piranhmon at full force, completely knocking him over. He released MirageGaogamon and the wolf shot back to his partner.

"You okay?" the Light Dragon asked.

"Just fine," the wolf snapped back, examining the wound in this side.

Metal Piranhmon quickly recovered and he shot back into battle. "Max Power Vice!"

He shot like a rocket, slamming his head into ShineGreymon's chest before the Dragon could react. He whipped his hands around and grabbed the sides of the Deep Saver's head. He crashed his knee deep into Metal Piranhmon's underside, but the sea digimon did not even wince. Instead, he swung his tail around, striking SineGreymon in the side of the head. The Light Dragon's grip remained strong, and despite his continual assault, MetalPiranhmon was not able to flee.

Instead, he was assaulted from the side by repeated jabs from MirageGaogamon's sharp gauntlet claws, yet, the wolf discovered to his horror that Metal Piranhmon's scales were just as tough as his metallic head. The Deep Saver chuckled, and the wolf sneered.

"You're going to regret that!" He shot back to a safe distance and began to gather energy within his hands. He took a deep breath and began to fire crescent-shaped shockwaves from his hands. "Double Crescent Mirage!"

Metal Piranhmon chuckled and used his plunger-tail to wrap around ShineGreymon's head and yanked down as hard as he could, using the Light Dragon as a shield. ShineGreymon was hit multiple times in the back, but he was still able to punch the Deep Saver on the snout as hard as he could. He was sure that he had hurt his hand, but he continued his assault. "Think you're tough, huh? Try this, jack-ass! Glorious Burst!"

Light exploded from his wings, completely enveloping the Deep Saver. ShineGreymon was certain that he had obliterated his enemy, but when the light faded, he discovered to his horror that Metal Piranhmon was very much alive, and he did not even appear harmed.

"Nice technique," the Deep Saver chuckled, "Pretty hard, but Wargreymon X punches harder."

ShineGreymon's eyes flinched.

"That's right. You're not Wargreymon X, you might think you are, but you're not. How can a…a shard of Yagami and Agumon X think they could defeat what their whole being could do!"

"Shut the fuck up!" MirageGaogamon shouted.

Metal Piranhmon laughed. "Fine, then let's get on with this. I can keep this up all day, but it looks like you're still not use to your new forms yet, Then let's see how far we can push this…"

"Metal Piranhmon!" Juro suddenly shouted, "I've just received word from Kurata, the gate is complete. We go to join him at once."

"You think we're just gonna let you leave?" MirageGaogamon shouted.

Metal Piranhmon floated back to his partner. The Deep Saver returned to his Digitama once more and landed within his arms. "I think you have more important things to worry about."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

The Fallen Chosen pointed downward. The two Mega digimon turned their attention to the water of the Tokyo Bay; Hikari had completely disappeared. Neither she not Plotmon X were anywhere in sight.

"Hikari!" ShineGreymon screamed, diving towards the last place he had seen her. MirageGaogamon turned back towards Juro, only to see that the Fallen Chosen had vanished. He sighed and turned back towards the water. ShineGreymon had reemerged from the water with Hikari and Plotmon X in his arms. Both females were coughing loudly, spitting up water. The Light Dragon sighed with worry. "Hikari…"

111

Lt. Colonel Reika Ootori pushed knocked on the door. "Colonel?" she asked, "Colonel!"

There was no response, so she used her spare keys to walk inside. The apartment did not look as if there had been a struggle or a break-in. In the early morning she theorized that he had simply overslept, there had been times when her alarm had not functioned like she wanted. Yet as the morning eventually turned to afternoon, and the afternoon turned to evening, there was still not any word, she had become extremely worried. He had not answered his phone, so she decided to investigate personally. If there was no sign of a struggle, and he had not answered his phone, she wondered if he was passed out from illness. She slowly entered the living room, and her face was a mixture of anger and relief. Yamaki was seated in the living room, an ashtray full of cigarette butts, and a bottle of liquor in his hands. "Colonel!" she gasped, "You never came into work…"

"I've lost her," he said.

"What?"

"Hikari," he said, "She knows about me…about us!"

Ootori sighed, "Well, I _did_ warn you about this, I _did_ tell you to tell her about Hypnos."

Yamaki hiccupped. "I fucked up…Shit, I miss her a…already…"

Ootori frowned. "Well, then the first thing you need to do is apologize."

"T…that won't d…do any good…"

"Why not?"

"S…she hates me…"

Ootori sighed, "Well, you know, I don't blame her…Hell, I've never even _met_ her and I don't blame her."

"Y…you should…meet her, that is, she's such a nice person…" He sighed, "And I drove her away….The best thing that ever happened in my life, and she's gone…."

Ootori sighed, "I've got some things to talk to you about, but I guess I'll have to wait until you sober up."

"W…what?"

She hesitated for a moment, then used the remote to turn on the television. Yamaki tried to watch the young reporter on screen, but his vision began to blur, so he merely listened. "….in KomagaTake. Another such incident was reported in Nichinan City. These creatures, which are believed to be the same 'digimon' that have been seen battling in the past, most notably twelve years ago when Odaiba was nearly destroyed. We will be following this story, and we will let you know as information develops, this is Juri Koto, signing off."

Ootori turned back to Yamaki, who was staring at the television, blinking. "O….okay…"

"There's more, sir," she frowned, "Vehicles were seen as both locations, vehicles that fit the descriptions of unmarked Hypnos trucks, and we have two trucks that were signed out this morning."

"What?" he blinked again, "W…who signed those orders?"

Ootori reached into the pocket of her tight jeans and handed him a folded piece of paper. Yamaki took it from her and scanned the lines of text. His eyes opened wide and he stared at her. "What?"

She nodded. "That's right sir, _you_ signed those orders."

"But…those impossible, I gave no orders!"

"I know sir, who ever forged your security code, apparently wasn't aware that you…uh…took a sick day today."

He stood up. "All right, let's get…get…" He attempted to take a step forward, but he quickly lost his balance and fell back onto the couch.

Ootori sighed and shook her head. "Let's wait until tomorrow morning, when you sober up."

111

Back inside the apartment, Hikari was lying in her own bed, while Miayag was lying on the bed in the guest room. Noriko, Sora, and the feminine sides of Taichi and Yamato were caring for them and the infant Taichi and Yamato. Takuya and Koji were standing on the balcony, staring up at the sky.

"This isn't working," Takuya sighed.

Koji glanced at him. "What?"

"This!" he said, mentioning to himself and Koji, "_We're_ not working. I tried to be Taichi for Sora and Hikari, but…I can't. I mean, I almost let her drown because I wanted to kill Juro so bad."

"Because you wanted to be the hero, you couldn't think about anything else."

Takuya nodded. "Yeah."

Koji sighed as well. "I know what you mean. I'm trying to be what Yamato was to Noriko, but…it's just not there, you know? I'm missing…."

"Everything _you're_ not?"

"Exactly. We're not what they need; they need us, and so much more."

"We need to be together again."

"Yeah, but how are we going to do that?"

Takuya thought for a moment. "I'm sure Miayag'll think of something, but she can't do it with just us and the girls, we need the rest."

Koji raised an eyebrow. "You mean…?"

Takuya nodded. "That's right. Get our partners, we're going after Miach and Yamag, and we'll drag them back here, kicking and screaming if we have to."

_The Weapons of the Gods hath ended, the Reformation now begins._


	9. Reformation: Chapter 1

_I am called Yariko, a name that I chose because of my…unique birth. You see, I'm really a guy named Yamato, merged with the power of darkness from the Daughter of Darkness, Noriko Kawada, who also just happened to be the love interest of Yamato. But I wasn't the only…unique birth, Yamato's 'evil' side, merged with the Power of Fate from the Priestess Miayag. They got this power from when the Daughters of the First gave their energy so that Taichi and Yamato could form Omegamon X to defeat GranDracmon, but when they fought the Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro, he killed them, and that's when their data separated and we were born._

_Miayag suggested that we try to find the Holy Weapons that fell to Earth when the Digital World was destroyed before Juro and his new partner, Kurata found them. We got the Bow of Forest and the Shield of Metal, but the Daughter of Forest and the Daughter of Metal were both dead, so Miayag had this complicated idea, which completely backfired on us. The end result was that Jyou, Michael, their partners, and the weapons got taken by Juro. And what's worse, Takuya and Koji, the heroic sides of Taichi and Yamato, have just vanished!_

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_Digimon Gog_

_Reformation:_

_Chapter 1_

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In the section of Tokyo known as Shinjuku, sat Hikari's apartment. It once belonged to her older brother, and she was his roommate, but now, legally, he was deceased, and she was his primary beneficiary. She refused to change anything, so Taichi's room was still just as he had left it, with one exception, Miayag and her Plotmon were now resting atop the covers. Sora had removed her cape and it was resting on Taichi's desk chair, along with the Staff of Yuushi. The Priestess lay on the bed, draped in only her pink and white dress. Her Plotmon sat on the floor, staring up at her with worry in her eyes.

"She'll be okay," Piyomon smiled, placing her remaining wing on the smaller Mammal digimon.

In the living room, Tanna and Yariko sat with their Infant counterparts on the couch. Noriko and her Plotmon were pacing the floor, and Sora was in the kitchen. Hikari was lying in the recliner chair, with the snoozing Plotmon X in her lap. The young woman looked into her small kitchen. "Sora, please, I don't…."

"Yes you do," the redheaded woman said over her shoulder, "Now please just rest."

"You really need to listen to her," Tanna said, "You're really weak."

"I…I'm fine."

Her 'sister' raised her eyebrow. "Come on, don't act like Taichi, that's my job."

"How can you guys be so calm?" Noriko asked, still walking along the floor.

"Why are you so worried?" Yariko asked.

"Juro and Hypnos are working together, they've got Jyou, Michael, and the weapons, and now Takuya and Koji are gone! What's there to be worried about?"

"Calm down, "Sora said, "We need to worry about Hikari and Miayag right now."

Hikari frowned. "You don't need to worry about me…"

"Stop it," the redheaded woman said, limping into the living room with a tray in her hands. She placed it down on the coffee table and gave a large cup of tea to Hikari. "Here, this should help you feel better."

"Thank you," she nodded slightly, taking the cup.

The redhead returned the smile, but then her expression changed and she ran towards the hall. The others twisted their heads just in time to see Sora catch Miayag as she limbered from Taichi's room.

Noriko help the redhead as they brought the priestess to the couch, where she fell onto the cushions. "Thank you," she said to Sora and Noriko.

"Yeah, no problem," Noriko said, "Are you okay?"

"I am feeling…better," she took a deep breath, "But we have more urgent matters to discuss."

The redhead frowned as she glanced over her shoulder to the brown-haired woman seated in the recliner chair. "You're as bad as your cousin."

Hikari just gave an apologetic smile.

Miayag took another deep breath before speaking. "Was I correct in hearing that Takuya and Koji are missing?"

Yariko nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you have any thought as to where they might have gone?"

"Nope," Tanna sighed, "Sorry."

Yariko faced her. "What if they tried to rescue Jyou and Michael?"

"They _are_ our heroic sides," Tanna muttered.

"But we don't know where Juro took them!" Noriko exclaimed

Sora turned to the Priestess. "Can't you use your Staff to try and find them or something?"

"Most probably, however, this city is quite large, it could take days, if not longer." She sighed, "We cannot find the Fallen Chosen, so we must now exploit the only lead that we do have."

All eyes turned to Hikari, and she frowned. "Mitsuo."

Sora knelt down beside her and gently placed her hands within hers. "You don't have to…"

She sighed. "I…I need to. I have to find out if Mitsuo really is behind this, I have to know."

She nodded. "Me and Noriko can come with you…."

She smiled slightly. "Thanks." Her smile faded, "We should go tomorrow morning."

"Where?" Noriko asked, "His apartment."

She shook her head. "No, let's go right where we can get him…" She turned to Miayag, "Let's go to Hypnos."

111

The Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro, could not help but smile as he entered the large warehouse on the Tokyo Bay waterfront. He passed through a long hall before arriving at the main floor, where a massive metallic circle lay on the concrete floor. A computer terminal resting on a metal card table was standing beside it; a maelstrom of wires connecting the terminal to the metallic circle lay tangled on the floor.

"This is it?" Juro asked.

Kurata walked up behind him. "Yes, but I must warn you, it hasn't even been activated yet, there is a very good chance that this could prove disastrous."

He raised his eyebrow. "Meaning?"

Kurata breathed in sharply. "We are bending time and space here, basically, we could create a black hole that could pull this entire city inside."

He smirked. "Well, that's why you're here, to make certain nothing does goes wrong."

The scientist paled slightly. There was no going back now. "What about the weapons?"

"Miach and Yamag are currently practicing with them." He quickly smiled," I'm sure they're enjoying themselves somewhere."

"Is that a good idea?"

He mentioned over his shoulder to the three Hypnos soldiers that were standing at attention. "Your warriors should be ample protection for us. Now, I grow weary of waiting…"

Kurata took a deep breath. "I'm afraid you're going to have to."

The Fallen Chosen slowly turned and glared at his partner. "What?"

The scientist took a deep breath. "You're going to have to wait, because I need to get my recording equipment back at my lab."

"What?"

He took another deep breath. "I am the one that has built this, this is my theory on the line, once Yamaki finds out about my…'authorization' for this project, he's going to come after us. My entire career, not to mention my freedom, could be at stack. I want proof to let the world know that I was justified."

Juro narrowed his eyes. "If you're not back here in two hours, I will drag you here, understand?"

Kurata just nodded and exited the warehouse.

111

Before the sun even rose over the horizon, Hikari, Sora, Noriko and Miayag were already traveling via subway system to the Hypnos building, located in Shinagawa. Sora was wearing her prosthetic leg and eye, while Noriko's skin contained the special 'welt-covering' skin makeup. Miayag had discarded her Priestess dress and was wearing clothes that she had borrowed from Hikari-a pair of white shorts and a pink tank-top, her long, messy hair was pulled into a tight, single strand dangling down her back. The four young women traveled in silence, three of them were too concerned for the fourth, and they felt that speaking would somehow disrespect Hikari's pain.

When they arrived at Hypnos, each one strained their necks to see the top of the twin-towered building. "This is it, huh?" Sora asked.

Miayag nodded. "Yes."

Noriko glanced at the glass doors at the building's base. She crossed her arms and grumbled. "Kind of inviting, isn't it? Like a bank or something, never suspect it was a place that was spying on us."

Hikari took a deep breath. "Well, we'd better get this over with."

"You know," Noriko said, "I've suddenly got a bad feeling about this. I mean, if they really _are_ working with Juro, and we just go walking inside, I odn't think they'll be so eager to let us leave."

"That's a good point," Sora said, "Why don't Miayag and Noriko stay out here, just in case."

Hikari glanced at her cousin. "Um, if it's okay with you, I'd rather have Megumi with me."

Miayag raised her eyebrow. "Um, if that is what you want."

The redheaded woman shrugged. "Uh, yeah, all right."

The brown-haired woman smiled slightly and nodded. "Thank you."

After she and her cousin had stepped through the glass doors, Noriko turned to Sora. "Well, that was weird."

"What?"

"Hikari."

Sora shrugged. "You know Hikari, I think she's just trying to be nice to her cousin, and wants to spend time with her."

"Yeah, maybe…"

Once Hikari and Miayag stepped through the glass doors, the older woman shivered. Her cousin squeezed her hand. "We can do this…you can do this, you need only believe in yourself."

Hikari took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, okay, I'm ready."

They walked to the half-oval shaped desk where the receptionist-a young woman with long brown hair was seated. She smiled at them. "Yes, can I help you?"

Hikari took another deep breath. "I would like to speak to Mitsuo Yamaki."

The receptionist raised her eyebrow. "Um, do you have an appointment?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, but, please tell him that Hikari is here."

"Hikari Yagami?"

The three women turned their attention to the sound of another woman's voice-one with purplish colored hair. She had been exiting the elevator when she overheard the conversation.

Hikari nodded. "Yes, that's right."

The woman glanced to Hikari's right and her eyes bulged. "Y…you!"

Miayag nodded. "I do remember you from our previous encounter."

The purple-haired woman hesitated, not certain what to do. "Please," Hikari said, "I need to see Mitsuo Yamaki, is he here?"

The woman hesitated for another moment, before nodding. "Yeah." She mentioned with her hand and the two young women stepped into the elevator with her. "My name is Reika Ootori, by the way," she smiled, "And I've wanted to meet you for a long time now."

She blinked. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Colonel Yamaki talks about you all the time." Her smile faded. "I don't know what happened between you, but…he loves you, it's obvious."

Miayag glanced at her cousin. "It is obvious to me as well."

111

Down in the lower levels of the building, Yamaki wandered into Kurata's laboratory. His eyes wandered to the various equipment and scientific tools. The cages that once held the captured duplicates of Taichi and Yamato were still in their usual spots, however they were now empty. Yamaki glanced at one of the computer monitors, which, like a typical computer desktop, displayed a collection of folders. He scanned over the titles and everything seemed normal. He then decided to arrange the desktop icons by date, and the last folder was named "Gate."

Yamaki clicked on that folder and the files that appeared caused his eyes to bulge. When he heard that someone had authorized a mission posing as him, he had his suspicions that Kurata had been responsible, but with this information, he was now certain.

He heard the laboratory door slide open. He twisted his head around and saw Kurata step into the room, placing his security card into his pocket. Once he saw Yamaki, his spine instantly froze. "Co...colonel!"

Yamaki leapt from his seat, grabbed Kurata by the color of his lab jacket and threw him into the wall. "You son of a bitch! I ordered this entire fucking experiment closed down! You posed as me to authorize two covert missions, endangered the X-Chosen, and now you're creating a Digital Gate! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now!"

Kurata hesitated, but then a thought came to mind. He was not sure why he even said it, but it soon slipped past his lips. "Don't take it out on me just 'cause your girlfriend found out you've been lying to her for the past year."

Yamaki blinked for a moment, then grabbed a gun from inside his pocket. "Wrong answer!" He pressed the barrel of the gun against Kurata's temple. He slipped his finger around the trigger…

"Mitsuo, don't!"

His head spun towards the sound of the voice and saw Hikari standing within the door to the laboratory, her hands clenched in a pleading fashion before her, and a horrified expression on her face. Standing beside her was Miayag, and an apologetic expression on Ootori's face. Yamaki hesitated for a moment, then threw Kurata onto Ootori's feet. "Get him the hell out of here."

She nodded and grabbed the scientist, leading him out of the laboratory. Yamaki turned to the two young women. "Hikari, w…what are you doing here?"

The brown-haired woman slowly approached him. "Mitsuo, we…" She took a deep breath, "I'm…I'm sorry."

Yamaki blinked. "Y…you're sorry?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry about those things that I said."

He shook his head. "You don't have any reason to feel sorry, I was the one that kept such a major part of my life a secret. I'm sorry for not telling you the truth."

She took a deep breath, "Mitsuo, we need to talk."

"I know," he said, "But, now really isn't the time, there's a major problem…"

"Major problem?" Miayag asked.

Yamaki seemed to notice her for the first time. He turned back to Hikari, "Your cousin, right?"

She nodded, "That's right."

Yamaki hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "All right, you've no doubt encountered Hypnos soldiers in Nichinan and Shikabe, and I want you to know that I had nothing to do with that. The man responsible is named Akihiro Kurata, he is the one responsible for the...uh…

'resurrection' of Taichi and Yamato into the different beings you've encountered."

"What can you tell us about Kurata's plans?" Miayag asked.

Yamaki mentioned to the computer terminal. "According to this, he has constructed a Digital Gate."

"A Digital Gate?" Miayag asked, "For what purpose?"

"I don't know, I only got as far as that."

The Priestess mentioned to the computer. "May I?"

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Go ahead."

Miayag sat down and began to search through Kurata's computer files. Yamaki turned to Hikari. ""I really am sorry."

"Mitsuo, I know." She gently grasped her hands, "I'm sorry I overreacted…"

He smiled slightly. "You always put all the blame on yourself, Hikari, this was completely my fault, and I want you to know that…that," he took a deep breath, "…that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don't want to loose you."

The young woman began to blush. She was about to respond, when Miayag jumped up from her seat. "What it is?" Hikari asked.

"We need to find Kurata's Digital Gate, now!"

"Why?" Yamaki asked, "What's going on?"

"The gate that he has constructed is far too large, and should there be a miscalculation, then a catastrophic disaster could occur."

"Like what?"

"A Digital Gate is at its simplest definition, a manipulation of time and space to create a doorway to another world, if something should go wrong, it could possibly create a black hole, and pull this entire city inside."

"Exactly how dangerous is the gate?" Yamaki asked.

"I am not certain…" she sighed, "However, it appears that he is planning on using it to manipulate DNA, specifically Juro's DNA."

"What?"

"He has a theory…amazing in its own right…that by transforming DNA into data, it can be more easily manipulated. The ramifications of this are actually astounding, medically…"

Yamaki and Hikari stared at her.

"Uh, yes, sorry. As I was saying, he wants to manipulate Juro's DNA, granting him his youth back. Yet, this does provide us with a possible solution to our problem."

"What problem?" Hikari exclaimed.

"It is possible that we could use Kurata's DNA-Data theory to recombine Taichi and Yamato."

The brown-haired woman smiled. "R..really?"

"And there is more news, according to Kurata's studies, it appears that the Infant Taichi and Yamato may in fact be the embodiment of the X-Antibody."

"Well…I guess that's good to know, but what about recombining them together?"

She sighed slightly. "We would need all of them together, and it is extremely dangerous."

"But it's the best idea we have, right?" Hikari sighed, "What do we need to do?"

"Find that gate."

111

Juro sighed in annoyance as he stared at his watch. "It has been over four hours, I have been more then patient, where is Kurata?"

Captain Kouki and soldier Nanami, along with their Gotsumon and Wommon could only raise their hands in uncertainty.

Juro grumbled and crossed his arms. "I have given him _more_ time then what I promised him, where the hell is he?"

The other two soldiers surprisingly stood their ground and did not show fear at the Fallen Chosen's anger.

"Captain!"

The group turned their attention to the third Hypnos soldier that had joined Kurata in his deal with Juro, Ivan, and his Patamon partner. "Captain Kouki!"

"What is it, soldier?" he asked.

"I was monitoring the Hypnos radio band, and I discovered that Kurata had been apprehended by Yamaki!"

Juro sighed deeply. He turned to the three soldiers, "And I suppose that he's the only one that can operate the Digital Gate that he has built?"

Kouki nodded. "It would be dangerous to operate it without him."

"All right," he growled, "Do you know where he is?"

Ivan nodded. "Yes."

Juro nodded, "All right, its time for a rescue."

111

Kurata was currently still seated within a vacant room within the Hypnos building, his arms cuffed behind his back. He sighed deeply as he stared down at his feet. "So, this is where my life has led me. My theories, my experiments, everything I've done, now down the drain…it's all over, all because of my…my arrogance. I wanted to experiment on Juro, I wanted to see my DNA/Data theory in affect…Now, everything's over…"

His soliloquy was interrupted when the door to his small room was opened and Yamaki and Lt.'s Ootori and Onodera entered. He only stared at them.

The Hypnos commander placed his hands behind his back. "There's a lot we need to know from you, but that can wait. There's only one question that I demand an answer to right now."

"And what's that?"

"Where is your Digital Gate?"

"The Digital Gate?" he asked, "Why?"

"Because it's dangerous," Onodera replied, "And if something goes wrong, this entire city could be destroyed."

Kurata's eyes flashed. "How dare you! My research is flawless!"

Yamaki slammed his first into the small table that sat within the center of the room. "I don't have time for you fucking attitude! Where is the gate?"

The scientist hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "It's the warehouse Hypnos purchased last year, right on the Tokyo Bay waterfront."

The Hypnos commander smiled slightly. He turned to Onodera. "Move him to the government prison, Reika, gather a team, we're storming that warehouse right now!"

111

Following her conversation with Yamaki, Hikari told Sora and Noriko about Kurata, and once the redhead heard that the renegade scientist was being transferred to another prison, she had a mental image of Juro coming to liberate him. So she called Hikari's apartment and told the female duplicates to come as fast as they could.

"Probably nothing will happen," Sora said as she placed her cellphone back into her purse, "But it's better to be sure, right?"

"You're starting to sound like Taichi now," Hikari smiled slightly.

"As long as it's his leadership skills and not his cockiness," she muttered. "When is he leaving?"

"Soon," Hikari said, "But Mitsuo told me they know where the Digital Gate is, so after they bring Kurata to the prison, we're heading over there."

Noriko stared at her friend. "So, are you two…back together?"

She started to blush. "I…um…I don't know…."

The short-haired woman fidgeted nervously. "Well…if it makes it easier for you, I always thought you two made a cute couple."

Hikari's blush deepened to an even redder shade of red. Sora smiled with experienced happiness. Miayag did not hear, as she was too focused on the metal doors of the Hypnos garage. The silence was broken when the door began to slide open. "They are leaving now."

The other women each held their breaths as a van exited the building. They stood on the sidewalk, with the main building to their backs and they watched as the black vehicle began to drive down the street. They kept their eyes focused on it and when it vanished around a corner, they each subconsciously-and optimistically, exhaled their breath they were holding.

"I'm just getting paranoid," Sora sighed.

The explosion nearly threw her onto her ass, but Noriko caught her. There was not even time for thanks, as the four young women ran as fast as they cough past the traffic, which had crawled to a stop-and that was only for the cars that weren't caught in the flames and billowing smoke. As the group of four turned the corner and entered the side street, they saw that the van had not exploded as they originally thought, but what did ignite appeared to be a gas line or something to the like beneath the street. The van was lying on its side next to a large crater in the pavement. They had seen enough of this to know that a digimon had attacked from the air, so they began to scan the skies. They located Thunderbirdmon circling above the accident, but before anyone could call that out, Coatlmon and Stegomon appeared from out of nowhere and stood between them and the overturned van, their humans partners were standing at their sides.

"Well, look who's here," Ivan-partner of Stegomon, chuckled.

"Yeah, I know," Nanami-partner of Coatlmon grinned, "Why'd we even bring our partners? These guys are helpless!"

"Enough of that!" Captain Kouki shouted from atop his Thunderbirdmon, "Keep your eye out for the others!"

Noriko narrowed her eyes. "If we had our Plotmons, you'd be in trouble."

Nanami smirked. "Quick question for ya, do you ever get confused when talking about your partner?"

Hikari, Miayag and Noriko glanced at once another. "Well, Hikari's partner is an X-modified digimon, so…why the hell am I even telling you this? Fuck off!"

Nanami only chuckled as Raptordramon shot down from the sky and landed next to the van. Juro had been riding his partner, and once the digimon descend enough, the Fallen Chosen leapt to his feet and threw open the vehicle door. "Doctor!" he shouted.

He heard a cough, followed by a loud moan. Juro peered inside and saw his 'partner' on his side inside the over turn vehicle. The Fallen Chosen grabbed his shoulder and hoisted him to his feet. "Come, let's move!"

"Sure," he muttered, "What else do I have left?"

The two men climbed back onto Raptordramon and floated back into the sky. "We're leaving!" Juro shouted, "Now!"

Noriko twirled to her friends. "We're just gonna let them leave?"

"What else are we to do?" Miayag asked, staring at Stegomon's massive jaws, "We cannot stand against them without aid."

"Then you've got it! Get down! Dino Burst!"

The four women dropped to their stomachs as a blast of heat shot over their heads and smashed into Stegomon and Coatlmon. Allomon and Butterflymon, along with Tanna and Yariko charged onto the scene. They held their infant counterparts in their arms, and the other women's digimon partners came running to their sides.

"Hurry, Hikari, hurry!" Plotmon X shouted, "Evolve me to Nefterimon, we've got to catch Raptordramon!"

"And we'll need Kuhuzamon!" Miayag's Plotmon cheered, "Hurry!"

The four females evolved their partners to their highest forms, Garudamon, Ladydevimon, Nefertimon X and Kuzuhamon. They joined Allomon and Butterflymon as they began to chase after Raptordramon. Unfortunately, Thunderbirdmon, Coatlmon and Stegomon dropped down in front of them.

"Out of the way, now!" Kuzuhamon ordered, "Or suffer my wrath!"

"We'll take care of this," Yariko offered, "You're the only one that can stand against Juro! Move your ass!"

"He's too strong!" Garudamon protested, "You'll need more help."

"Sora and Hikari go with her!" Noriko shouted, "We'll hold them off!"

The two were about to protest, but the short-haired woman shouted back, "He's getting away! Move it!"

The three women nodded and quickly flew after Raptodramon. Thunderbirdramon tried to fly in their way, but Ladydevimon flew beneath the metal bird and jabbed her claws into her underside. He twisted out of the way, and the three female digimon shot after the escaping Raptordramon.

Captain Kouki held tightly as his partner whipped around and flung open his wings. "Thunder Storm!"

A storm of thunder and lightning escaped from his wings and rained down upon the fallen angel. Ladydevmon twisted and rolled in the air, attempting to avoid the maelstrom of energy, but she was soon struck multiple times. She made a motion with her hand, then flung her arms open, sending a wave of bats above her head. Each one of her flying rodents sacrificed themselves to protect the devil woman so she was able to fight.

Her arm twisted and changed into a long, sharp spear. "Darkness Spear!"

Thunderbirdmon whipped his wing around, and the Fallen Angel's metal spear impacted harmlessly against the armored body. The giant bird rammed Ladydevimon in the chest, throwing her backwards into the sky.

"Damn you!" she hissed in pain.

"I don't have any desire to hurt you," Thunderbirdmon said, "I am only completing my orders."

"I heard that's what the Nazis said," she mumbled.

Down below, Butterflymon and Allomon were busy with their own battles. The dinosaur's eyes were darting back and forth as he stared at the massive serpent slithering before him. Allomon may have remained calm, but his partner was anything but.

"Hurry up!" Tanna shouted, "Smash him, kill him, tear him apart, just do whatever you have to do, but just hurry up!"

The soldier Nanami smirked slightly. "You should learn to stay calm. You're supposed to be Anna Danika and Taichi Yagami, right? Well, I think you got more of the later and not the former."

She glared at her, still rocking the snoozing infant Taichi in her arms. "Allomon!"

The dinosaur glanced over his shoulder and nodded. "Right." He turned back around, but once he did, Coatlmon struck. The Wind Guardian leapt from the ground and wrapped itself tightly around the Nature Spirit, pulling his arms tightly against his chest. He struggled to break free, but the serpent began to glow brightly. "Freeze Wave!"

Allomon struggled not to scream as a piercing wave of cold energy flowed over his body, freezing his leathery skin.

Tanna clutched to her infant counterpart. "Allomon! Allomon!"

The sheet of ice flowed across the dinosaur's body, nearing his head. Suddenly, he screamed and the ice sheet shattered, actually throwing Coatlmon to the ground. He slammed his foot into the snake's rear, causing his head to shoot up in pain. The dinosaur grabbed Caotlmon's head with his teeth and began to toss him around, slamming him into the pavement multiple times. He completed his combo by whipping his head around at full force, but releasing his grip, sending the serpent crashing into one of the buildings.

"Yeah!" Tanna cheered, "Show him who's boss, yeah!"

Allomon stared at Coatlmon, who was lying unmoving on the ground. The dinosaur charged at the snake, but at the last second, Coatlmon jumped to the air, firing a blast of energy from his mouth. "Fossil Wave!" The energy blast struck the dinosaur directly in the chest. He moaned in pain and fell onto his back, his entire body began to freeze into paralysis.

"Allomon!" Tanna shouted.

"I…I can't move…" he muttered.

"Of course not," Nanami grinned, "Coatlmon can not only freeze your entire body on the outside, but paralyze you on the inside. Coatlmon, kill him now!"

The serpent leapt into the air, intending to use his teeth to pierce the dinosaur's skin, but his paralysis technique did not spread to Allomon's open mouth. The dinosaur screamed, "Dino Burst!" sending a wave of intense heat into Coatlmon, throwing the snake back onto the ground.

Butterflymon and Stegomon had been fighting for the entire length of the battle. The ground-based Nature Spirit was clearly at a disadvantage from the hovering butterfly. However, only Butterflymon's Sweet Pheromone attack was efficient at a long range, but that needed to be charged with an energy-based attack, and Stegomon had none, so she could only execute her Sweet Honey Straw and physical attacks at close range. So, she was forced to sweep in closer to attack, but Stegomon was always waiting for her.

Butterflymon opened her claws fingers. "Sweet…"

Stegomon screamed at that moment, firing the needles on his back at the hovering butterfly. "Shell Needle Rain!"

Butterflymon twisted and rolled to avoid the shower of shrapnel and continued on her path. She swung her claws open and fired a stream of a sticky substance into his eyes. "Sweet Honey Straw!" The dinosaur tried to move out of the way, but he was simply too large, and the honey only struck his left eye. He began to flail around in anger, and his tail struck Butterflymon, throwing her into the ground.

She struggled to stay afloat, but her wing was clearly damage. Stegomon began to roll forward at such a tremendous rate that his entire body became a giant saw. "Guillotine Wheel!"

"Butterflymon!" Yariko screamed, "Get out of the way!"

Her partner stared at the giant saw heading straight towards her. She waited until the last second before rolling to the right and Stegomon's momentum slowed to a stop. Unfortunately, his needled back became stuck in the pavement, and he was unable to get back to his feet.

Ivan rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me! Get up right now!"

"Now's your chance, Butterflymon!" Yariko cheered, "Move it, go, now!"

Her partner flew high into the air, keeping her eyes on the struggling Stegomon. She placed her claws together above her head, then flew towards the ground as fast as she could, embedding her claws deep into the dinosaur's stomach. He roared in pain, but Butterflymon had hit him off center, so the force gave him enough leverage to flip back onto his feet. Butterflymon was able to shoot out from beneath him, but his tail flicked around, slamming her into the pavement.

111

Meanwhile, Kuzuhamon, Nefertimon X and Garudamon had managed to reach Raptordramon. Hikari and Sora held tightly to their partners as Kuzuhamon charged at the Adult digimon.

Kurata and Juro both glanced over their shoulders and saw the trio of female digimon heading towards them at full force. "They are gaining on us," Kurata said, "Maybe it would be best to surrender."

"I will never surrender!" he shouted, "Now hang tight. Raptordramon!"

His partner began to glow with bright light. "No!" Sora shouted, "He's evolving!"

Before they could do anything, Raptordramon had evolved to his frightening Mega form-Metal Piranhmon. The evil Deep Saver began to snap and snarl, biting and jabbing the air with his jaws.

"Hold your ground!" Kuzuhamon shouted, holding her staff before her, "We will not run or cower, we will fight to the end!"

Metal Piranhmon stared at the hovering fox woman, then at the giant bird man, and then the Egyptian holy beast. He began to laugh. "I hate to break it to you, but only Kuhuzamon stands even half a chance."

"And so I will," the fox woman answered, "I will do whatever is necessary."

Juro chuckled. "Even with Kurata with me?"

"He has made his choice," she replied flatly, "If I am able to do so, I will annihilate you, make no mistake."

"No mercy?"

"You have shown none, why should I show it to you?"

The Fallen Chosen grinned. "Just think, if Yagami and Ishida didn't show _you_ mercy, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

Kuhuzamon flinched.

"Don't listen!" Hikari shouted, "He tried to do the same thing with me! He knows all about us, about our pasts, about our fears and he'll use it against us!"

Juro smirked. "She's right. I know about how Hikari and Tailmon were nothing but liabilities to the other Chosen: the brat was just a sick child and the hairball could still be loyal to Myotismon."

Sora stared at HIkari and Nefertimon X. "That's not true! Don't listen to him, that's not true!"

The Fallen Chosen turned to face her. "And now we come to the slut of the group."

"What?" she snapped.

"You practically clung to Taichi when you first went into the Digital World, yet, three years later, you were in love with Yamato."

"I was ten years old!" she shouted, "I didn't know love from the feeling I got when I looked at my 23-year-old history teacher!"

"So it was nothing more then a crush?" he asked, "You played with the emotions of two boys because you had a crush?"

"Don't blame her too much," Metal Piranhmon added, "She's female, what else do they do best?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Sora screamed, "You can't read my mind, you have no idea what happened!"

Juro grinned as he stared at the group: Kuzuhamon, Hikari and Nefertimon X were clearly contemplating their pasts, while Sora was so angry it was affecting her partner, Garudamon would not be able to think straight. "_Connection between a Chosen and their partner is stronger then any of them realize,"_ he thought, "_Now it's time to strike."_

Through their connection, Metal Piranhmon knew Juro's orders. The Deep Saver opened his mouth. "3D…"

"Brace yourselves!" Kuzuhamon shouted. She leapt in front of the others and spun her staff as fast as possible. Metal Piranhmon's laser struck the weapon, deflecting it into the sky, where it dissipated harmlessly.

Nefertimon X executed her Rosetta Stone and Garudamon fired her Shadow Wing. Both attacks merged into one and struck Metal Piranhmon directly on his face. Both digimon and their partners held their breaths, but neither one was surprised when the Deep Saver remained unscathed.

"Come on," Metal Piranhmon chuckled, "Now you're getting desperate, you know that won't work!"

Kuzuhamon shot past them. "Surround him, we attack at once!"

Juro smirked as the three digimon encircled them. The three female digimon were about to attack, but Metal Piranhmon shouted out, "Let's go for a spin!" He spun around in a tight circle, his metal-plunger tail swinging as well. It struck Garudamon first, then continued on its trajectory, snagging Nefertimon X and Kuzuhamon as well, throwing all three onto a nearby roof. Sora and Hikari were tossed from their partners and rolled onto the roof.

Kuzuhamon shot back into the sky. Nefertimon X and Garudamon instantly shot to their partners' sides. "No!" Hikari shouted, "Go help her!"

"Go!" Sora ordered.

The Holy Beast and the Wind Guardian flew to aide the fox woman, but Kuzuhamon already began to attack. She swung her staff, "Reverse Rice…"

Before she could finish, Metal Piranhmon slammed his jaws down on the weapon. She struggled to pull it free, but even with his mouth closed tightly, she was able to discern his mumbled, "3D Laser."

She had no hope of moving to safety before the Deep Saver's attack struck her at full force. Despite her impressive strength, she was no match, and she fell to the building roof. She devolved back to her two previous forms-Plotmon and Miayag.

Garudamon and Nefertimon X continued on their path to attack Metal Piranhmon, when Juro held up his hand. "Stop!"

They both came to a screeching halt out of surprise and habit. "What?" Garudamon asked.

The Fallen Chosen crossed his arms. "Why would you attempt to attack us? You saw what Metal Piranhmon did to Kuzuhamon, what hope do you think you have?"

They both glanced to the roof, then back. Juro smirked. "You can't defeat us, we were of the First, we are divine."

"A divine pain in the ass," Garudamon mumbled.

"Say what you will," he continued, "But right now, destroying you isn't my top priority."

Nefertimon X chuckled, "If you're suggesting that we let you go, you've got to be kidding! Come on Garudamon, let's…"

"No!" Hikari shouted.

"What?" her partner asked in amazement.

"Just…just let him," she said, "Just…let him go…"

Juro gave a slight bow. "Lady Hikari, a pleasure as always. Come, Metal Piranhmon, let us be off."

Both Garudamon and Nefertimon X reluctantly watched as he disappeared into the afternoon sky.

111

When Garudamon and Nefertimon X found their way back to the scene of the break out, they found Noriko, Tanna and Yariko seated on the pavement with their partners at their side. Yamaki, Ootori, and the rest of the Hypnos crew were securing the area."What happened?" Sora asked, leaping off of Garudamon.

Noriko's Plotmon grumbled, "That bastard Coatlmon's got a paralyzing attack, it hit all of us, then they left."

"Probably after Juro left," Nefertimon X mumbled.

"Hikari!"

The young woman was not even able to turn before Yamaki embraced her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yes…yes, I'm fine."

"Well, it doesn't matter, right?" Sora asked, smiling slightly, eying Yamaki, "Because we know where the gate is, right?"

The blond man nodded. "Yeah, I'm putting a team together right now."

"But, you can't!" Hikari protested, "I…Juro's strong enough to beat my cousin, there's no way that normal humans can stand against him."

"And you want me to let you handle it?"

She nodded.

He shook his head. "I can't. This is government jurisdiction…"

"That never stopped us before," Noriko said with a slight smile. Yamaki shot her a glance.

"Mitsuo," Hikari said, "I'm only worried about the people you'll send in. They'll be killed."

He hesitated, then mentioned to the accident. He turned his back on Hikari, then sighed deeply. "I need to deal with this mess, clean up, classify information, deal with the police, paperwork…probably take me at least three or four hours before I send the team to that warehouse on Tokyo Bay…"

Hikari smiled. "Thank you."

"Just go."

She nodded and ran to her friends. Yamaki sighed again, then walked back to the Hypnos agents.

111

Koji narrowed his eyes as he stood atop one of the buildings in the section of Tokyo known as Hikarigoaka. He held the Shotguns of Lucien in his hand; and the shotguns were glowing. He held the ancient weapon to the left, and then moved it to the right. The glow began to shine brighter. "They're here all right."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that," Takuya frowned, "'Specially since I was the one that said to come here!"

Koji just glared at him, but instead of arguing, he turned his attention back to the city around him. "What made you want to come here anyway?"

The other young man shrugged. "I don't know, just this…weird feeling…"

The other man frowned and sighed. "Its probably the same feeling that I'm getting too."

Agumon looked over at the two young men. "You guys were born here, right?"

"I wasn't born here," Takuya answered, "But I did live here, up until I was six."

"Me too," Koji nodded, "We moved to Odaiba, and then…" He sighed, "…then Mom and Dad got divorced."

Takuya frowned as well. "I don't have a lot of pleasant memories here either. This is where…" He hesitated.

"What?" Koji asked.

The other young man took a deep breath, "Where I almost killed my sister."

There was an uncomfortable silence, then Takuya blinked a few times. "Jeeze, we're getting really moody, aren't we?"

"I know," Koji replied. His eyes suddenly opened wide, "Maybe…maybe we're getting some kind of…of connection with our dark sides."

"That could be very probable," Gaomon said, "Even digimon don't split their data up like this, so we don't know what could be happening and what couldn't, but why would they be remembering your parents divorce?"

"And Hikari's near death?" Agumon asked.

"We'll figure that out when we find them," Takuya said, "Let's go."

Takuya and Agumon jumped onto the fire escape and slid down the stairs. Koji and Gaomon glanced at one another, then sighed and smiled slightly.

"What are you two doing?" Takuya's voice echoed from the ground.

The digimon and his partner both chuckled and leapt down the fire escape as well. Once they were on the ground, they used their weapons as a beacon. They raced across the city, holding the ancient items out before them, determining their path by the intensity of the weapons' glow. They did not know why they were racing through the city at such a pace, perhaps a fear that they would soon loose their prey, and then be completely lost.

As they ran down the sidewalk, ignoring the frightened stares the citizens were giving them, or more specifically, their weapons. They took no notice of the fleeing people, so they only took slight surprise when the crowd began to scream and run in complete terror. The ground then shook violently, with a tremor so strong that it threw the foursome to their backs. They leapt back to their feet and saw a sight that filled them with both excitement and dread, their 'evil' sides, Miach and Yamag, along with their partners, Black Agumon and Black Gaubmon.

Taichi's dark side crossed his arms. "I've got to say, I'm pretty impressed. I mean, how big is Tokyo, and you managed to find us just where we were hiding."

Takuya smirked. "Hey, don't forget, I know how you think, 'cause I _am_ you."

"You are _not_ me," he sneered, "Never forget that."

"Why are you two here?" Yamag sighed, "Can't we get any peace?"

Koji narrowed his eyes. "We've got a few things to talk about."

"We do?" Yamag replied.

"That's right," Takuya snapped, "First, where's Juro?"

The four 'dark' sides glanced at one another, then started to laugh. "You honestly expect us to tell you?" Black Gabumon chuckled.

"We just want Michael and Jyou," Koji shot back.

"Sorry, that's our insurance."

"Insurance?" Takuya shouted, "Insurance! You little…" He suddenly began to slowly smile, "But you know what, that doesn't really matter, because after we merge back together, we should know where that fucking geezer's hiding."

"Merge back?" Miach asked, genuinely surprised, "So, you have a way to do that?"

The eyes of his 'heroic' side flinched slightly. Miach grinned. "Ha, so you don't have anything, do you?"

"Miayag'll figure something out," Agumon shot back.

"That's right!" Takuya shouted, "And I'm sure she'll be able to do it better once all of us are there!"

"What?" Koji asked.

Takuya began to get irritated. "We're taking _them_ back with us!"

Miach laughed. "Maybe you didn't realize that we now have…._these!"_ He held up the Bow of Abungu, while Yamag gripped the Shield of Glaucio. Their partners laughed as power flowed through their digital bodies.

"Black Agumon warp evolve to Gaioumon!" He once again evolved to his Mega from, a Wargreymon covered in samurai armor, however, this time, Miach was able to merge with him, as others who possessed Holy Weapons were able.

Black Gabumon chuckled as he, too, began to evolve. "Black Gabumon evolve to Black Saint Galogomon!" The small, black-skinned lizard-wearing-dog-furred digimon quickly changed to a giant, towering, armor-wearing canine with two massive cannons attached to his shoulders. Yamag merged with his partner as well.

Despite their earlier displays of courage, Takuya, Koji and their partners were visibly shaken. They quickly shook off that embarrassing feeling and prepared to fight.

"Agumon warp evolve to Shine Greymon!"

"Gaomon warp evolve to Mirage Goagamon!"

The two humans each merged with their partners, becoming the powerful, heroic Mega digimon.

The two sides stared at each other for only the merest of moments before they charged to attack.

To be concluded…..

"_I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband."_

_-Revelation 21:2._

_A shinning world floated within the void, spinning on its axis as it circled its glowing star._

"_It just appeared out of no where."_

"_But…that's impossible! It was destroyed, I was there, I saw it happen!!"_

"_There's more to this world then we think, it's not the same. There's something…else here…"_

_This world was covered with water and land, crisscrossed together. On one of these continents, a lone figure walked across the desert, a white cape billowing behind him; his left arm was covered by a gauntlet resembling a dragon, while his right hand had a gauntlet resembling a wolf. _

_His journey ceased, and he turned his head to the right to watch as another figure approached. This one was covered in black and gold armor, with two wings emerging from his back, and a bright blue cape behind him. In his left hand he carried a sword with a massive blade, while in his right he carried a long, gold staff._

_These two were soon joined by others, who appeared from over the horizon, they were all basic human in appearance and each was covered by a suit of armor. The third had white armor and a glowing lance. The fourth was covered with brown armor, two large white wings and held a rapier in his hands. A fifth was draped in purple armor and carried a shield in his hand. The sixth had giant forearms and carried a large spear. The seventh was skeletal in body form, with sharp, jagged armor, metal wings, and sharp, metal claws on his hands. The eighth was an odd mixture of man and beast and held a crossbow in his hands. The ninth wore dark blue armor, large fluttering wings and a glowing blade on the left arm. _

_These armored warriors felt a presence, and they slowly turned to stare at the beach, where the dark sea was crashing into the shore. Three creatures emerged from the water, one was tall and lanky with long arms and legs, the other was bulky with an odd-shaped head, and the last was gray and purple, with a long black spear for his left hand. _

_Each of the knights ran forward, their weapons drawn. The creature of gray and purple raised his sear arm and a tidal wave crashed into the beach, the water line reaching only a few feet before the armored warriors. They waited for the water to recede, but instead the black sea began to form into demonic creatures, hundreds of them. They charged the knights, their teeth showing and screeches erupting from their throats._

_The knights ran into battle, swinging their weapons and making short work of the demonic creatures. Yet, the evil ones had sheer numbers on their side. While the rest became surrounded by the creatures, the sixth warrior-the one with the skeletal body and sharp claws, the seventh warrior-the one with the glowing lance, and the eighth warrior, the one draped in blue armor and a glowing blade on the arm, managed to break through and assault the three demonic leaders. _

_The seventh warrior charged at the demonic lord with the bulky body and odd shaped head. He slashed with his claws, but the evil creature's skin was scaly and gray. He grabbed the knight with long tendrils and threw him into the ground, but the knight countered by slashing at his back with his claws._

_The eighth warrior found himself battling the creature with the long arms and legs. This knight narrowed his eyes and stared at his opponent's white face mask that completely covered even his eyes, yet, he was soon to discover, that gave him no disadvantage. This knight attempted to drive his glowing lance into his opponent's stomach, but the demonic lord used his long arms to whack the knight in the helmet, without his lance coming close. The knight rolled along the ground to get behind his opponent, but the demon twirled quickly, grabbed the knight's shoulder with his arms and threw him as hard as he could into the air._

_The ninth warrior was battling the central lord. His weapon was the saber on his arm, which he swung at the central demon's head, but this demon used his spear arm to black each thrust. The eighth warrior rolled backwards and jumped into the air, hoping to use that to an advantage, but the demon followed, and the two continued their sword fight in the sky. As the eighth warrior blocked another jab, he saw an opening. He kicked the demon as hard as he could in the face, throwing him back onto the shore._

_Down below, the remaining knights had defeated the army of demonic creatures, and the ninth warrior, the one with giant forearms, slammed his massive spear into the ground, causing a massive crack to appear before them, separating the aquatic demons from the rest of the continent._

_All the knights regrouped and watched as their evil opponents slunk back into the dark water. Each one breathed a sigh of relief-that is, until they felt another presence, one far darker and more sinister then even those demons, if such a thing was possible……_


	10. Reformation: Chapter 2

_My given name is Megumi Seisou, but you may call me Chihi Miayag, the Priestess of the Digital World. I once unknowingly served a demon named GranDracmon. In a moment of grief, overcome by my troubled childhood, I accept him as the God of the Digital World, and he gave to me the power of Taichi and Hikari Yagami. I would later discover that I was their cousin._

_After defeating GranDracmon, I wished to return to my studies in philosophy in America, but I was called back when the weapons of the First Chosen fell to Earth after the destruction of the Digital World. Unfortunately, another discovered the weapons as well, the Fallen Chosen, Tatsuo Juro. He and his unstoppable partner, Metal Piranhmon, attacked and killed Taichi and Yamato, but this act split them into different beings, each one the embodiment of an aspect of their personality merged with the power of a Daughter of the First. While Takuya, Koji, Tanna, and Yariko proved to contain their central 'goodness,' Miach and Yamag, their 'evil' sides, joined with Juro and a renege scientist named Kurata. They have constructed a Digital Gate, which could very well envelop this entire world._

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_Digimon_ _Gog_

_Reformation:_

_Chapter 2_

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Shine Greymon charged forward at full force, smashing his fists into Gaioumon's head before the samurai digimon could react. At his side, Mirage Gaogamon had to jump into the air in order to reach Black Saint Galgomon's head. Despite the armored-canine's height, Mirage

Gaogamon's claws were still able to case him pain.

Following Shine Greymon's attack, Gaioumon roared and charged forward, swinging his razor weapons at his Light Dragon counterpart. Shine Greymon blocked with the back of his armored gauntlets, then swung his other arm around, smashing his fist into the virus dragon's helmet. Gaioumon twisted with the punch, then slashed at the Light Dragon's leg with his sword. Shine Greymon winced in pain and leapt into the air.

"You should watch yourself," Gaioumon chuckled, "You were wide open."

"Fuck you!" Shine Greymon shouted as he leapt into the air, then went to slam both of his fists onto the virus Dragon Man, but Gaioumon crossed his swords quickly and used them to block the downward attack. He pushed back against ShineGreymon's attack, then whipped around quickly, slamming the back of his leg into Shine Greymon's side. The Light Dragon winced in pain once more, and Gaioumon began to slash with his swords. Shine Greymon was able to dart and block each jab. When he was finally able to get a good distance, he spun around quickly, slapping his tail into the evil Dragon Man with such force that he stumbled backwards. Shine Greymon's wings began to flap quickly, creating a massive collection of light. "Shinning Burst!" The light exploded from his wings, at slammed into Gaioumon at full force.

Shine Greymon smirked. "You should watch yourself, you were wide open."

Gaioumon stared at his opponent, then swung his swords as hard as he could, sending out two large arrows of light. "Rinkageki!" he shouted.

Shine Greymon swung his armored arms over his face, and the virus Dragon Man's attack struck them, skidding him backwards. The Light Dragon threw his arms down and had only moments to duck before Gaioumon's sword would have slashed off his head.

Meanwhile, Mirage Gaogamon had been staring down his own massive opponent. Black Saint Galgomon was a towering monstrosity of armor and weapons. The Nature Spirit held his claws together, gathering energy within his palms before he fired a barrage of crescent-shaped energy blasts at his opponent's head. "Double Crescent Mirage!"

Black Saint Galgomon held out his palm, and the multitude of beams smashed into them. It did not cause the injury that Mirage Gaogamon was hoping for, but he at least knew from the burn marks on the giant Machine digimon's palm, that he could be injured.

"I've just got to try a little harder!" he shouted, propelling himself into the air as high as he could. Energy began to gather in the wolf headed chest plate he wore. The wolf's mouth opened wide and a tremendous blast of energy exploded forth, smashing into Black Saint Galgomon's chest. "Full Moon Blaster!"

The giant Machine countered by swinging his fist around, knocking Mirage Gaogamon to the ground. The Nature Spirit rebounded from the ground using his leg muscles and shot back into the air. He landed on Black Saint Galgomon's arm and charged up his shoulders. The giant turned his head just as Mirage Gaogamon slashed his claws across his face.

Black Saint Galgomon moaned in pain and whipped his other hand around, grabbing the much smaller digimon within the palm of his hand. "Now I've got you," he boomed, squeezing the wolf-man as tight as he could.

"Come on, scream…" he grinned.

Mirage Gaogamon struggled to break free, but the Machine digimon continued to laugh. "There's no escape…"

The Nature Spirit struggled inside his massive grip. "F…Full Moon Blaster!"

Black Saint Galgomon screamed in pain as his hand was blown apart. Mirage Gaogamon twirled to freedom as his Machine opponent clutched his missing arm. "Damn you…"

The wolf man cracked his neck. "Come on, give me your best shot."

Black Saint Galgomon panted heavily, then smirked slightly. "Fine, you asked for it. Giant Missile!"

His two giant shoulder-based cannons fired two equally massive missiles that Mirage Gaogamon had no hope of avoiding. He once again executed his Full Moon Blaster, his timing and accuracy so perfect that it hit the missiles at such a perfect angle that the two giant projectiles flipped back around and smashed into Black Saint Galgomon, throwing him backwards and onto his rear. Unfortunately, having executed so many energy techniques at once, Mirage Gaogamon was close to exhaustion.

He glanced over his shoulder to Shine Greymon and Gaioumon. The two dragon digimon were still fighting, viciously tearing into one another. Shine Greymon slammed his fist into Gaioumon's head, Gaioumon swung his sword around, cutting into the cyborg's leg. The Light Dragon whipped his other foot around, smacking it into the side of the virus's head. Gaioumon lurched backwards, but flung back forward with his full might, bashing his head into Shine Greymon's own. The Light Dragon stumbled back but Gaioumon continued his assault, slashing and cutting with his swords. Shine Greymon jumped into the air and whipped his tail around, smacking his metal appendage into his opponent's face. With Gaioumon slightly injured, Shine Greymon held his hand in the air. "Geo Grey Sword!" A geyser of flame leapt from the ground and collected in Shine Greymon's palm, transforming into a familiar sword.

"The Katana of Fire?" Gaioumon chuckled, "Impressive."

"I was just getting tired of your fucking swords!" he shouted, charging forward. He swung his weapon at Gaioumon's head, but the virus blocked with his own swords. They began to execute combos after combos with their swords, but each one blocked with their own weapons.

Mirage Gaogamon was not faring much better. Black Saint Galgomon was swinging his fists into the ground, but the wolf man darted and rolled out of the way. The Machine digimon growled with anger and swung his fist again, slamming the ground with enough force to cause a small earthquake. Mirage Gaogamon pulled his firsts back, then slammed his gauntlet-based claws deep into Black Saint Galgomon's hand. The towering digimon roared with pain, but Mirage Gaogamon continued his assault. He jumped up the arm's length, using his claws to embed deep into the machine's arm, then used his pattern as he made his way up his opponent's arm and landed once again on his shoulder. He ran towards Black Saint Galgomon's head, hoping to finish what he had started before, but the Machine digimon shrugged his shoulders quickly and he fell to the ground. He was able to use his claws to create a massive gash in Black Saint Galgomon's chest before he smashed into the ground. He clamored back to his feet, and Shine Greymon soon joined him, pressing their backs against one another. Their opponents began to slowly close in on them.

"How you holding up?" Shine Greymon asked.

"Exhausted," Mirage Gaogamon answered, "I'm not gonna last much longer."

"Yeah," his partner panted, "They're tougher then we thought, but I don't think they're gonna last much longer either."

"Yeah, _you_ might be able to, but I'm about to collapse…I don't have enough energy left to defeat him."

Shine Greymon glanced over his shoulder and saw Black Saint Galgomon stomping towards them, then back at Gaioumon, who was clearly far more injured. "Then I think we need to switch partners."

"What?"

"We do it real quick, it'll screw with their heads, and that should do it."

Mirage Gaogamon smiled slightly. "Crazy enough to try."

Shine Greymon smirked and held his sword tightly. Gaioumon and Black Saint Galgomon were nearly on top of them. The Light Dragon took a deep breath, "3…2…1….Now!"

The two digimon suddenly twisted around and charged forward. Shine Greymon was correct, Gaioumon was too surprised to react in time as Mirage Gaogamon's Full Moon Blaster struck him at full force, and Black Saint Galgomon gasped loudly, as Shine Greymon's sword dug deep into the gash created by Mirage Gaogamon. Both virus digimon shuttered for a moment, then both were overcome by the light of devolution, regressing to their previous forms.

Shine Greymon panted heavily. "Man, that was fucking tough, huh?"

He glanced over and saw that Koji and Gaomon were lying unconscious as well. "Great," he muttered.

111

After Koji and Goamon regained consciousness, they dragged their negative counterparts back to Hikari's apartment. Takuya then used her telephone to call her and inform her that they had captured Miach and Yamag. They decided that Sora, Noriko and Hikari would head towards the warehouse where Juro, and Kurata would activate the unstable Digital Gate, while Miayag, Tanna and Yariko would go back to the apartment.

When they stepped inside, they saw Miach and Yamag were tied to the kitchen chairs, their hands and feet bound tightly to wooden seats. Their digimon were imprisoned in similar fashion, and their weapons and digivices were on the living room table. They did not want to chance having them in the same room.

"Hey guys," Takuya waved as they walked inside, "What's up?"

The young women were able to answer, when they noticed the 'evil' sides were in the kitchen. Yariko twirled to the heroic sides. "You…you really defeated them?"

"Yeah," Koji replied, "And it wasn't easy."

Tanna was staring into the kitchen as well, but for another reason. She turned to them. "What did you use to tie their hands and feet?"

Koji glanced at Takuya, who began to nervously rub the back of his head. "Um, yeah, about that," he started, his face becoming bright red, "We…uh…didn't really have anything else so…yeah…those are Hikari's…pantyhose…"

"We're sorry," Koji added.

Tanna shrugged. "Well, you're just gonna have to tell her later.."

Takuya turned towards Miayag. "So, now that we've got them, you can, like change us back or something, right?"

The Priestess hesitated. "I may have a means to do so, but…."

"But what?" Koji asked.

"It is the Digital Gate that Juro and Kurata are about to activate."

Takuya just nodded. "All right, so, all we have to do is secure that Gate, then we're in business, right?"

"We just have to get through Metal Piranhmon," his Agumon added.

The room fell silent. "Well, hey, no worries, right?" Tanna smiled, "We'll do it, no matter what, we always find a way."

Before anyone could respond, they heard a loud moan coming from the kitchen. "Well, it looks like they're awake," Takuya said.

They slowly walked inside. Miach and Yamag were fully awake and already struggling to escape. "Don't bother," Takuya warned, "That's…uh…super strength rope, you'll never break free."

The others glanced at him, but said nothing.

"All right, fine," Miach mumbled, "You caught us, now just kill us and get it over with."

"Kill you?" Yariko gasped, "We're not gonna kill you!"

"Then what are you going to do?" Yamag asked, "Fuse us back together? No thanks, I'd rather not be with a bitch like you."

Yariko stared for a moment, then crossed her arms. "You know, you're just insulting yourself when you say that."

"The point remains," Miayag interrupted, "That you must be fused back together, a person's soul cannot exist in multiple shards."

Miach snorted, "Sometimes its better that way…"

Takuya narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Figure it out, dumb-ass."

Koji thought for a moment. "I've got a question, when we were looking for you, me and Takuya both started to remember…things we weren't happy about. Were _you_ thinking about that?"

"That's none of your business," Yamag responded.

"What things?" Yariko asked.

"When our parents got divorced and Takeru left with Mom," Koji answered.

Tanna stared at her heroic component. "And what about you?"

Takuya hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "When Hikari almost died…"

Miayag blinked in surprise. "Hikari almost died? When was this?"

"When I-_we_ was six," Miach answered, "Hikari was four, she was sick. Mom told us to watch her, but because of our…our _selfishness_, we took her outside because _we_ wanted to go outside . She caught pneumonia and almost died, all because of us."

Takuya and Tanna held their heads low, but Miayag stared at the 'dark' side of Taichi. "Dead Lord," she said, "You are not solely the evil within Taichi, you are his regret as well, his guilt."

"Wait, what?" Tanna gasped. She looked back at Miach. "Then…why were you with Juro?"

He shrugged. "A chance for power, a chance to finally get everything that I deserve!"

"And his selfishness," Miayag added, "No doubt he began to repress that the day Hikari was nearly killed."

Koji turned to Yamag. "All right, what about you? Why did you join with Juro?"

Yamag did not answer for a moment. Koji was about to ask him again, when he answered, "I guess…the same. I wanted power, I wanted people to be afraid of me. I…I just wanted to hurt everyone! And…and I wanted them to hurt me!"

"Yamato's anger and the suicidal part," Koji frowned, "From his parents' divorce and his depression."

Miayag placed a hand on Koji's shoulder. "Did…was there ever a time that Yamato tried to…"

"Well, I know right before we faced Piedmon of the Dark Masters, Yamato and Gabumon were on their own and fell into some kind of dark hole that fed on the negative emotions. Yamato was perfectly happy just to sit them for the rest of his life, but Gabumon got through to him."

Miyaga's Plotmon frowned, "Jeeze, no wonder he's a basket-case."

Yariko and Koji stared at her. The small Mammal paled slightly. "Um, I mean…Yamag, not…not you guys…heh…"

Miayag sighed. "I fear this may be all my doing."

The others stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "These two…" she mentioned to Miach and Yamag, "Were given life through my Fate power, the power I gave to Taichi and Yamato to form Omegamon X, and I did fear that the evil sides of Taichi and Yamato mingled with my own, but now I see that we were more alike then I realized." She smiled slightly, "In my past life, I, too, suffered more then my share of guilt and regret…" She eyed Miach, "And greed and selfishness," she turned to Yamag, "As well as rage and self-destruction. I am sorry."

Tanna hugged her. "Oh, come on, they wouldn't be here if all that stuff wasn't inside them to begin with, right? Now come on, we've got to…" Her smile began to fade, "Oh shit, we've got to get to that warehouse!"

111

Inside the Hypnos building, Mitsuo Yamaki, sighed as he stared at his personal laptop, which was resting on the desk in his office. He was attempting to complete his report on the escape of Kurata, but his eyes kept drifting to the picture he kept on his desk, the one of a brown haired young woman. He gently grasped the picture and used his thumb to rub against her face.

He quickly placed the picture back when he heard his office door open. He glanced up and saw Ootori standing in the doorway. He cleared his throat and pretended to start typing. Ootori laughed and walked over to him. "You know, it's okay to be worried about your girlfriend."

"I'm not worried," he said, "I know she can handle things…"

She crossed her arms and stared at him. "Come on, you don't need to be the typical man and act like you don't have emotions."

He glared at her. "Reika…"

She held up her hands, "All right, all right." She did take a deep breath, "But we are going to go after them, right?"

"As soon as I'm done with this paperwork."

Ootori rolled her eyes. "We're going to be waiting awhile, aren't we?"

Before he could respond, Onodera ran inside. She was carrying a sheet of paper in her hands. "Colonel!"

"What is it?" he asked, "I'm right in the middle of…"

Onodera held up the paper and continued speaking, "Sir, our satellites have just detected a massive surge of electrical energy…"

He shrugged. "So?"

"Sir, it's coming from the Tokyo Bay area."

Yamaki's face paled. "What?"

Onodera nodded again. "Janyuu thinks that with the intensity that we're getting, it could be used to manipulate a gravitational field…"

"A wormhole?" he gasped.

"Colonel?" Ootori asked.

Yamaki jumped up from his seat and was about to run to the door, when he slowed to a stop. "What?" Onodera asked.

"What exactly are we going to do?" he asked, "No matter what kind of hardware or weapons we use, we can fight against a digimon, as powerful as Metal Piranhmon-I'd just be sending soldiers to their deaths."

Ootori blinked, she had never heard him speak like this before. "W…what do you suggest we do, then?"

He sighed. "Nothing."

"Nothing?!" Onodera gasped, "Colonel…"

"Just be ready for clean-up duty," he sighed, "One way or the other."

Before either woman could speak, Yamaki's laptop suddenly exploded, and three beams of light twisted around the room before smacking into the three Hypnos agents. The force sent them onto their backs, except for Yamaki, who skidded on his rear into the wall. What he saw lying in his lap forced him to remove his sunglasses and stare in shock-seated on his lap, was a blue-colored digimon.

"Hiya!" the digimon waved, "The name's V-mon, nice ta meet ya."

"V-mon?" he asked.

The digimon nodded. "Yup, that's right, and I'm gonna be your partner from now on."

Yamaki gasped. "What? Partner? But I'm not a Chosen!"

The Small Dragon chuckled, "All humans are Chosen, some just haven't realized it yet."

"But…but I did?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I've been calling you for a while now, but you couldn't hear me…" He frowned, "You were too busying hurting other people."

He twitched slightly, an image of Hikari appearing in his mind. "Oh…"

V-mon grinned again, "But, no worries, I'm here now!"

Yamaki smiled slightly, then remembered his two subordinates. He twisted his head around and saw they both had digimon of their own-short, oddly shaped beings dressed in suits of armor-black for Ootori and white for Onodera.

The two young women shrugged slightly. "They said their called Pawn Chessmon," Ootori smiled slightly.

Yamaki turned back to V-mon. "We all were Chosen?"

He nodded. "Yup, oh, I almost forgot…" He jumped off of Yamaki's lap and began to scan the floor. His eyes focused on an object below his partner's desk. He dove for it, then jumped back to his feet, grinning proudly. He handed Yamaki what he had lifted from the ground-a blue digivce, similar in style to the D3's used by Daisuke Motomiya and the other second team of Chosen Children.

"W…where did you get this?"

V-mon shrugged. "The one that sent me here gave it to me."

"Sent you…" he gasped, "Wait a second, the Digital World's gone! Where did you come from?"

He thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I'm not sure, I just remember someone telling me that it was time for me to meet my destiny….Oh, and he said that your destiny is just beginning, that…that you're intertwined with the path the Chosen take in time, and always have been."

"Wow, I don't know…wait, how high can you evolve?"

"All digimon can evolve to the Adult level on their own," he explained, "Or with the help of their partner, but to go higher takes a little something extra."

Yamaki frowned, "Let me guess, we don't have that 'little something extra?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure we will."

"Colonel!" Ootori called, "I'm…I'm as shocked at you are, but…"

"I know," he grinned, rising to his feet, "Well, V-mon, I know you just got here, but are you ready to help your…" his smile grew, " partner' redeem himself to the woman he loves, and the people that could be his friends?"

V-mon smiled as well. "That's why I'm here."

111

On the Tokyo Bay waterfront, sat the warehouse that was currently being used by Juro and Kurata to house their Digital Gate. Hikari, Sora, Noriko and their partners, slowly peered over the handrails of the balcony. They each stared with wide-eyes of fright when they saw the Digital Gate. They were not sure what they were expecting, but to see a giant metal circle standing up on the warehouse floor, so perfectly constructed, that it sent chills up their spines.

"There's Michael and Jyou," Sora whispered, mentioning to the far wall. Their missing teammates were seated on the floor, the humans tied together and the digimon bound into a ball.

"I see Kurata and Juro," Hikari said, cautiously focusing on the two older men standing in front of the gate, "But where are those soldiers?"

"They're here, all right," Plotmon X said, glancing around at the ceiling, "Just be careful."

Down below, Juro and Kurata were standing before the newly constructed Digital Gate. "It is magnificent," the Fallen Chosen grinned, "Truly wonderful."

Kurata did not respond.

"How does it work?"

The Hypnos scientist adjusted his glasses. "It works on the same process as a normal Digital Gate-at least, it should. It hasn't been tested at all, it is very dangerous."

"I don't care about your cowardice!" he snapped, "Activate it!"

Kurata sighed. "It operates on creating a phenomenon similar to a black hole, and black holes are created by a collapsing star-a manipulation of gravity, albeit, an extreme manipulation of extreme gravity."

"Spare me," Juro spat.

Kurata sighed and pointed to the left side of the room, where two newly constructed giant electrical coils were resting. "That generator will create an electromagnetic field that we can use to manipulate a gravitational field." He walked over to a large-handled switch which was resting on a metal pedestal-shaped object. He grabbed the switch handle, took a deep breath, then flipped it over. The generators began to whirl and hum with a loud noise.

He turned back to Juro. "It's going to take some time for it to get up to full power."

Juro growled, then his snarl slowly turned into a smile. His eyes drifted to the right. ""It seems we have company."

Kurata narrowed his eyes. "The Chosen?"

The Fallen Chosen nodded. "Yes." He took a deep breath, then shouted, "Intruders!"

"Oh shit," Noriko gasped, "We've got to…"

Before she could finish, the snake digimon, Coatlmon, shot up from the ground. He chuckled for a moment, then whipped his entire body around, smashing his tail into the balcony guard rail. The three young women and their digimon partners were sent tumbling backwards through the door, and out onto the street. They jumped to their feet, just as the three reneged soldiers and their digimon partners ran out of the building.

"Evolve!" Sora shouted, "Now!"

The three digimon quickly evolved to their highest levels: Ladydevimon, Garudamon, and Nefertimon X. The three soldiers and their partners soon joined them: Nanami and Coatlmon, Ivan and Stegomon, and Captain Kouki and Thunderbirdmon.

"Attention, Hikari Yagami, Sora Takenouchi and Noriko Kawada, surrender now, and you will not be harmed, if you resist, we will use deadly force."

Hikari narrowed her eyes. "I think I speak for all of us, we will not surrender. Please, I don't know why you're serving Kurata and Juro, but just surrender, maybe Mitsuo will be lenient…"

"Our orders come from Dr. Kurata," Kouki replied, "Not Yamaki." He mentioned to his team, "Prepare to fight."

The three young women stared at their opponents. "I'll take the bitch," Sora sneered, staring at Ivan.

"Nefertimon X is the strongest," Noriko added, "You take Thunderbirdmon, we'll get Stegomon."

Hikari nodded. "Right, go Nefertimon, just capture him alive, okay?"

The Holy Beast pointed her front legs forward and fired a barrage of light from her armored jewels, "Nile Jewelry!"

Thunderbirdmon was not expecting the attack to come so suddenly, and he was hit on both of his wings. As he lost control of his altitude and fell towards the ground, Nefertimon X shot after her prey.

"I don't have time for this," she shouted, "Rosetta Stone!"

She began to fire large stones, which struck the Giant Bird along his back. Thunderbirdmon caught an updraft with his wings, whipped around and bashed his head into Nefertimon X's chin. She flipped around in the air, and the Giant Bird began to bat at her with his razor-wings. She was finally able to regain control and fired a "Curse of Queen," attack that hit Thunderbirdmon directly in the face.

He was flung backwards, but then whipped open his wings, sending a wave of thunder and lighting into the Holy Beast. "Thunder Storm!"

"Nefertimon!" Hikari screamed, watching as her partner was struck repeatedly by bolts of powerful lightning. The Holy Beast hovered in the air for a moment, then shot towards the Giant Bird with all of her might, bashing her head into his. Both digimon were disoriented, and wobbled in the sky for a moment, before the Giant Bird resumed his attack. He whipped his tail around, pointing it forward. He flew at Nefertimon X, his wings slicing into her furred-skin, and his tail cut into her underside. The Holy Beast fired another Curse of Queen attack, throwing Thunderbirdmon back.

Garudamon and Coatlmon had been battling fiercely. The snake digimon was slithering along the ground before leaping up to strike. Garudamon kept her eyes focused on the wiggling serpent, and when he leapt to strike, she grabbed him with her large fists, directly behind the head and at the end of his tail. "Got you!"

"Don't get cocky!" Sora shouted, "Remember, he can…"

"Fossil Wave!" the snake shouted, sending his paralyzing wave through the Giant Bird, turning her into an organic statue.

Her redheaded partner sighed. "Paralyze you…"

Nanami chuckled. "You'd better give up now before you really get hurt."

Sora cheered on her partner. "Garudamon, come on, you can do it!"

The Wind Guardian's body shock as she tried to free herself from Coatlmon's attack. The serpent slithered along the ground, encircling the frozen digimon. He leapt into the air, circling around Garudamon and squeezing tightly.

The Wind Guardian struggled to breathe as her wind-pipe was slowly crushed. She tried to move, but the Fossil Wave attack was still holding her hostage. As he began to black out, she heard Sora crying out to her.

Suddenly, she felt a feeling of relief wash over her, and she knew the paralyzing wave had worn off. She flexed her muscles and pulled her arms apart, Coatlmon tried to keep constricted, but his grip failed against the Giant Bird's strength. As the serpent began to fall, Garudamon grabbed him by the tail and swung his head into the ground. Coatlmon whipped around and shot into the air. "Cold and Clammy!"

The sky above Garudamon began to pour with snow, covering the bird in a matter of seconds. The snake whipped his tail around, striking the Wind Guardian in the underside of her chin. Garudamon whipped his arms around, attempting to grab the snake, but the serpent displayed surprising speed and shot out of her grip.

Stegomon once again found himself against an opponent that had a major disadvantage against him: Ladydevimon had the freedom to move within the air, while he was trapped firmly on the ground. While the Fallen Angel's Darkness Spear could only be utilized at close range, her Darkness Wave attack was certainly long range, yet such a powerfully attack could not be used in repeated numbers, so she was forced to swoop in close to pummel him with physical attacks.

She whipped around to the Nature Spirit's rear and slashed his backside. Unfortunately, Stegomon's tail whipped around, smacking her in her backside, his tail spikes jabbing into her leather-clad rear.

"Damn it!" she hissed, shooting higher into the air, "That was stupid!"

"Are you okay?" Noriko shouted.

"Yeah," she growled, her eyes narrowing on the dinosaur digimon, "You're gonna pay for that!"

"Bring it on!" he shouted, "Shell Needle Rain!"

The spikes on his back erupted, firing into the air. The Fallen Angel danced and darted to avoid the shrapnel; she used this as cover to plan her revenge for Stegomon's tail attack. She slithered through the assault, and came close to Stegomon's nose. She quickly formed her Darkness Spear and jabbed it into his snout. He screamed and writhed in pain, flicking his head to the side, the devil woman was thrown in the force, but she twisted around in the air and flipped forward.

Stegomon jumped into the air as well, and his body began to spin around rapidly, the needles on his back turning into razor wheels. "Guillotine Wheel!"

Ladydevimon flung her heads around in an effort to protect her body from the razors, but her left hand was sliced to shreds.

"Ladydevimon!" Noriko screamed.

Her left hand was the hand that transformed into her Darkness Spear. Stegomon charged forward, his jaw snapping. Ladydevimon executed a familiar motion with her hands and fired out a wave of bats directly into the stegosaurus's face. He stopped short, and the Fallen Angel executed a series of punches and kicks. Stegomon's jaw suddenly snapped open and grabbed her leg, slamming her into the ground.

The dinosaur was about to continue his assault, when something else caught his eye, a familiar opponent-a giant butterfly. He roared with revenge. "Shell Needle Rain!"

Butterflymon whipped to safety as the giant spikes shot harmlessly into the air. She fired a stream of honey from her claws that struck Stegomon, once again, in the eyes.

"Butterflymon?" Ladydevimon asked.

On the ground, Noriko was smiling as Yariko and Koji came running over. She could see Yamag, slowly walking behind them. She turned as saw Taichi's 'components' joining Sora, while Miayag ran to Hikari's side.

"No!" the brown-haired woman said, "Kurata and Juro are inside! Hurry and go! We'll hold these three off!"

"But…" Miayag protested.

"No!" Hikari shouted, louder then before, "They're going to activate the gate, and you said it was the only way to get Taichi and Yamato back to normal! You said Omegamon X could beat Metal Piranhmon! You've got to help them, please…"

The Priestess nodded. "Very well. Takuya, Koji, gather up your counterparts, we must enter the warehouse at once!"

Before they could protest, Miayag shook her head. "Hikari has commanded it, now, we must go now!"

The components of Taichi and Yamato reluctantly agreed and began to file through the warehouse door.

"No you don't!" Kouki shouted, "Thunderbirdmon!"

His partner obeyed and swooped down to attack the humans and digimon scrambling through the door. Nefertimon X shot over, using her entire body to throw the Giant Bird out of the way.

Thunderbirdmon growled at her. The Holy Beast stared back; she was certain she could easily annihilate the Giant Bird, but Hikari had told her to capture alive, so that was what she would do. "I'm giving you one last chance," the Holy Beast said, staring at Thunderbirdmon, "Surrender, or you're going to regret it."

Thunderbirdmon's response? ""Thunder Storm!"

Nefertimon X braced herself as the Giant Bird's attack ripped across her body, bolts of lightning rained from the sky. She attempted to move, but another wave of lighting crashed down upon her-she was trapped.

"Fire Rocket!"

Thunderbirdmon was suddenly hit by a giant ball of flames, throwing him into a tailspin, and saving Nefertimon X. The Holy Beast stared with surprise, then slowly turned and saw a blue, dragon man dressed in red and orange armor. "Fladramon?"

"Fladramon?" Hikari exclaimed, "But…" She slowly turned as well, staring at a definite human figure standing in the shadows cast by the twilight sky. Momentarily, she saw a brown-haired young man with a pair of goggles on his head. "D…Daisuke?"

The figure continued to walk forward, and the starlight cast down, revealing a young man with blond hair and dark sunglasses. "Mistuo?!" she gasped, "Wh…what?"

The young man smiled as he held up his digivice. Hikari blinked. "B…but how?"

"Later," he said, "Right now, we need to take these three down!"

Hikari looked over her shoulder and saw Ootori and Onodera's two KnightChessmon aiding Garudamon and Ladydevimon. She turned back to Mitsuo, then grinned. "All right, Nefertimon, let's finish this!"

111

Miayag, along with the components of Taichi and Yamato, simply charged inside the warehouse. "All right, ya' Fallen piece of shit!" Takuya shouted, "We're commandeering that Gate!"

They followed the hall until they arrived at the balcony over-looking the abandoned floor. When they saw the giant Digital Gate, they stopped in horrified shock. "That fucking thing is huge!" Yariko exclaimed.

The small group peered over the edge of the bars, and saw the renegade Hypnos scientist and the Fallen Chosen standing before the Gate. Suddenly, the entire balcony exploded as Metal Piranhmon's metal tail ripped through the metal support boards. Tanna and Yariko clung to their Infant Counterparts as they all fell to their knees. However, as they did, they dropped the Bow of Abungu and the Shield of Galucio as they fell. They quickly leapt back to their feet as the demonic Deep Saver floated beside his Fallen partner.

"Well, it looks like we're all here, doesn't it?" Juro chuckled.

"Surrender, now!" Miayag order, "Or face your own destruction."

He smirked. "My, such animosity."

"Shut up!" Koji shouted, "I'm getting tired of you! Now, get out of the way!"

The Fallen Chosen crossed his arms. "Really, and who's going to make us?"

Takuya and Koji narrowed their eyes. "Who do you think?!"

"Well, you'd better re-examine your army, because I think your soldiers are about to betray you."

Takuya and Koji glanced at each other, then looked over their shoulders. Their dark sides were grinning wickedly. "You bastards!" Takuya exclaimed, "I thought you were going to help us!"

"When did we agree to that?" Miach smirked.

"Calm down," Koji said, "They can't evolve to Megas without their weapons."

"Uh, guys," Tanna called out, "Not to give you anything else to worry about, but…um..."

"We dropped the weapons," Yariko said.

"You dropped them?!" Takuya screamed, "That's all you had to fucking do, was hold onto the weapons, and you dropped them?!"

"Takuya!" Koji snapped, "They're evolving!"

As expected, the two Dark Sides had recovered the weapons that had been taken from them when their female counterparts crashed to the ground. They held them tightly as they merged with their partners, becoming Gaioumon and Black Saint Galgomon.

"Oh man!" Takuya whined.

Miayag glanced over her shoulder at Metal Piranhmon. "Try to subdue them, I will give you whatever time I can."

"What?" Takuya asked.

"Evolve and hold them off!" her Plotmon shouted.

Each digimon quickly evolved to their highest levels. The heroic sides and females sides began to attack their evil sides, while Kuzuhamon approached Metal Piranhmon. Juro began to chuckle. "So, now that her foot soldiers have fallen, the Heir of Yuushi finally deigns to enter the battle herself."

"To exile your evil from this world once and for all!" she snapped. She gripped her Staff of Yuushi and moved into battle position. Metal Piranhmon grinned. "I remember that Staff, and the sting it gives, of course, you're nothing like your grandfather."

The fox woman did not respond as she charged forward. Metal Piranhmon whipped his metal tail around, whacking Kuzuhamon in the chin. She executed a back-flip in mid-air, and when her head came around, she swung her staff as a transparent fox flung from the weapon. "Reverse Iduna!"

The fox spirit was inches from the evil Deep Saver. "3D Laser!" His energy attack sliced the fox spirit in half and would have struck Kuzuhamon at full force had the fox woman not blocked with her weapon.

"Max Power Vice!"

Kuzuhamon had just enough time to hold her staff horizontally with both of her hands. Metal Piranhmon's jaws clamped down tightly around the weapon, and he tried to yank it from her hands, yet, the fox woman held tightly. She whipped him from side to side until she released his grip and was flung to the side of the warehouse. The force of the impact caused him to open his jaw, and Kuzuhamon mentally summoned her weapon, which flew to her hand in a burst of golden light.

"Well done," Juro clapped, "Excellent mastery of that weapon, I am impressed."

"Your impression does not concern me," she responded, "My only concern is ending your reign of terror."

He smiled slightly. "Once again you insult me, simply because my views are dissimilar to yours."

"Your views would bring death and destruction to millions of innocents!" she shouted back, "To you, any who do not believe the same as you must be offered up to death!"

"You felt the same not so long ago, didn't you?"

Kuzuhamon flinched as she thought of only a few shorts months ago, when she was serving the demon GranDracmon as his High Priestess. At that moment when her thoughts drifted from the battle, that was when Metal Piranhmon attacked. "3D Laser!"

The fox was hit in her side, her armor torn and shredded. She cursed herself for falling for his trap; she had discovered that the Fallen Chosen's greatest weapon was to turn his opponents on fears and regrets against them. She panted and winced in pain, then shot after Metal Piranhmon, slamming her weapon into the side of his face. He whipped around, his metal tail plunger smacking into her already-injured side. She moaned in pain, and Metal Piranhmon continued his assault.

The components of Taichi and Yamato had been battling one another. Tanna and Yariko held Taichi Jr. and Yamato Jr. while their partners aided Shine Greymon and Mirage Gaogamon against Gaioumon and Black Saint Galgomon. They had to win this struggle, for not only did Omegamon X have the greatest chance of defeating Metal Piranhmon, but Sora and Noriko needed a whole Taichi and Yamato, they needed their loved ones as they were meant to be.

Gaioumon pointed his sword and fired an arrow of glowing energy. "Rinkageki!" Shinegreymon whipped his wings around and used them like a shield to protect his body, while Allomon charged forward and slammed her head into Gaioumon's chest. The Mega digimon only smiled and slammed his fists into her head. The dinosaur stumbled backwards.

"Are you okay?" Tanna shouted.

Shine Greymon ran to her side. "Take it easy," he said, helping her to her feet.

"Yeah, that was stupid," she muttered, rubbing her head. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Gaioumon charging at them with his sword drawn. Allomon pushed Shine Greymon out of the way just as she rolled backwards. The demonic Dragon Man slashed empty air. The Light Dragon whipped his tail around, striking his opponent in the back before unleashing his Shining Burst, throwing Gaioumon into a concrete wall.

He flipped open his wings and shot after his opponent, executing a rapid set of punches, cracking the demonic Dragon Man's armor. Gaioumon slashed with his sword, cutting into Shine Greymon's arm. He jumped back, nursing his injured limb. The demonic Dragon Man jabbed with his blade, but the Light Dragon leapt to the side.

"I'm getting tired of your advantage!" he shouted. He clenched his fist and the ground began to quake as a stream of fire erupted forth. The geyser twisted and snaked in the air before smashing into his hand, forming into a familiar sword.

"GeoGrey Sword?" Gaioumon asked, "It looks like the Katana of Fire."

Shine Greymon did not answer. He slashed for Gaioumon's lower leg, but the demonic Dragon Man blocked with his own sword. The Light Dragon jabbed for the shoulder, but his thrust was once again blocked. The two dragon men began a fierce sword fight, each one hoping to slice the other's neck, but each time they tried, their weapons were blocked by their opponent's. Their weapons eventually became locked together, each one trying to overpower the other, and Shine Greymon had actually gained the upper hand, that is, until Gaioumon kicked him in the stomach, throwing his backwards. Gaioumon slashed a horizontal slice in the air, firing tracks of light at Shine Greymon. "Rinkazen!"

The Light Dragon was clearly disoriented. The Demonic Dragon Man raised his sword, ready to strike…

"Dino Burst!"

A blast of hot air struck Gaioumon's hand, forcing him to drop his weapon. He twisted his head and saw Allomon glaring at him. "Yeah!" Tanna cheered, "Show him who's boss, yeah!"

"You will pay for that!" Gaioumon shouted. He dove for his dropped weapon, but Shine Greymon used his own sword to execute a decisive uppercut, creating a major slash in the Demonic Dragon Man's armor. He stumbled backwards and Shine Greymon unleashed his Glorious Burst, enveloping Gaioumon in an explosion of light. When the eruption of power faded, Miach and Black Agumon were lying on the floor.

As for Butterflymon and Mirage Gaogamon, the battle against Black Saint Galgomon was not easy. Mirage Gaogamon gathered energy within his palms and began to fire cresent-shaped energy waves into the giant Mega's legs. "Double Crescent Mirage!"

Black Saint Galgomon winced at the attack. He swung his giant arm at the smaller wolf man, but Butterflymon whipped in front of his face and executed her favorite strategy of squirting honey into her opponent's eyes. "Sweet Honey Straw!"

"Damn you!" the giant Mega shouted, swinging his hands blindly in the air. Mirage Gaogamon jabbed his claws into Black Saint Galgomon's leg and ripped up as hard as he could. The giant flicked his leg, and the wolf man was propelled into the air. He executed a flawless back flip and landed perfectly on his feet.

He charged forward again, his claws glistening in the window-streaming moonlight. He was about to strike Black Saint Galgomon's previously-injured leg, but the giant recovered from Buttlerflymon's attack and kicked the wolf as hard as he could. Mirage Gaogamon was sent flying through the air before slamming into the concrete wall.

"I will destroy you!" he shouted. A panel flipped open on his chest and a large missile exploded forth, heading straight for the injured wolf digimon. The Nature Spirit leapt out of the way and the missile blasted into the wall, creating a massive hole in the side. Mirage Gaogamon charged forward again, this time gathering the energy into his chest. He screamed, "Full Moon Blaster!"

Black Saint Galgomon brought both of his palms before his chest, guarding his body against the assault. While his hands were still together, Butterflymon whipped in front of his face and this time scratched at his eyes with her claws. He roared in pain and instinctively back handed her into the ground.

"Butterflymon!" Yariko cried from the sidelines.

"I'm fine," she responded, floating back into the air.

"You won't be for long!" Black Saint Galgomon shouted, "Giant Missile!"

Another massive projectile shot from his chest. Butterflymon flew out of the way, but Mirage Gaogamon stood his ground. "What the hell are you doing?" she screamed.

The wolf man simply watched the missile flying towards him. At the last seconds before impact, he flipped backwards in the air, kicking the projectile backwards. Black Saint Galgomon gasped as his own weapon flew back towards him. He was simply too big to move before he was struck directly in the chest. Mirage Gaogamon unleashed his Full Moon Blaster immediately, with two such attacks in succession, Black Saint Galgomon stumbled backwards. The wolf man fired another Full Moon Blaster, but this time, the giant Megan was able to block with his metallic forearm. The energy blasted towards the sky, but Butterflymon whipped from nowhere and began to absorb the dissipating energy into the scales beneath her wings. "Sweet Pheromone!"

Bolts of lightning rained from her scales, showering down onto the giant Mega. Mirage Gaogamon took this opportunity and unleashed a third Full Moon Blaster. With his injured chest, and both energy attacks striking him at full force, Black Saint Galgomon could not hold onto his form and his regressed back to Yamag and Black Gabumon.

Yariko smirked slightly. "Well, that wasn't so tough…"

"You guys okay?"

The Yamato components looked over as the Taichi components ran towards them, Shine Greymon holding the unconscious Miach and Black Agumon. "Yeah, we're fine," Yariko answered.

"What are you doing?!"

They twisted their head to the ceiling to watch as Kuzuhamon battled Metal Piranhmon. "If you have defeated them, you must go! Go into the Gate now!" the fox woman ordered.

"Come on!" Mirage Gaogamon shouted, hoisting Yamag and Black Gabumon onto his shoulder.

Tanna and Yariko clutched to their Infant counterparts as their partners joined them. They all began to run towards the Gate. Kurata, who had been standing before the control panel, leapt to the side as the powerful digimon ran towards him. Juro, who had been watching his partner's battle from the other side of the floor, shouted out, "Metal Piranhmon, stop them!"

His devil partner flew towards the components of Taichi and Yamato and flicked his metal tail at them, but Kuzuhamon leapt in the way, getting struck directly in the stomach.

"Miayag!" Tanna shouted.

"Go!" the fox woman ordered, "I will hold him, for as long as I am able."

"But…"

"Now!" she shouted.

The group nodded at one another, then took a deep breath before diving through the glowing light that comprised the circular Digital Gate.

111

The components of Taichi and Yamato found themselves floating within a void of pure white. "Where are we now?" Yariko asked.

"We've been reduced to data," Koji answered.

"But why didn't we end up in the Digital World?" Tanna asked, "Or even where the Digital World used to be?"

"Who knows," Takuya answered, "I want to know why we didn't…um…recombine or something."

"Maybe we need to do it consciously," Koji suggested, eying Miach and Yamag, "Which might take some convincing."

The 'Dark' sides crossed their arms. "You think we're really going back?" Miach asked, chuckling slightly.

"You need to!" Tanna protested, "Come on, don't you care about Sora and Hikari?"

"What about Noriko?" Yariko asked, eying Yamag, "They need us."

"No they don't," Yariko's counterpart answered, "They don't need to remember their regrets or their anger."

Takuya stared at Miach, "But...Taichi's just not Taichi without his temper."

"No, you're wrong, Taichi's Taichi because of _you._ He's not regret…" he glanced at Tanna, "And he's not 'girly."

She huffed and crossed her arms. "Just because a guy's in-touch with his sensitive side, doesn't mean he's girly."

"But Taichi's _not_ in touch with his sensitive side," he retorted.

"When it comes to Sora and Hikari he is!" she shouted back.

"Stop arguing!" Koji shouted.

Takuya was silent for a moment, then stared at Miach. "Listen to me, when Taichi almost killed Hikari…yeah, that memory never left him, but…but if it wasn't for that, he wouldn't have become the person he was!"

"What do you mean?"

"He may have lived with it all this time, but that just made him stronger in the end. It was because of almost killing his sister that he started to become more responsible."

He snorted. "Oh come on, his arrogance almost got the others killed so many times…"

"Yeah…okay…but…his guilt helped him overcome that arrogance…"

Tanna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you're doing a great job…."

Koji smiled slightly. "I just realized something."

"What?" Yariko asked.

"Yamato's 'darkness' started when his parents got divorced, that's why he was so protective of Takeru, because they were separated so much." He mentioned to Miach and Yamag, "Both of them came from incidents that completely scared Taichi and Yamato, but it only made them care for their younger siblings so much more. And it was that relationship that helped them deal with their problems during the first year as Chosen."

Yamag only snorted. "I didn't know Yamato was a fucking psychiatrist."

Koji narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you…"

"Forget it!" Miach shouted, smiling slightly, "Maybe you convinced us."

"What?" Tanna gasped.

Yamag shrugged. "Yeah, you guys are too fucking 'wholesome' for your own good, I think you need us as much as we need you."

"You're probably right," Yariko smirked, "What do we do?"

"I know this sounds corny," Tanna said, "But why don't we hold hands?"

The humans all grasped each other's hands, even the Infant counterparts, who had decided at that moment to act like typical babies. The digimon grasped one another as well. They were silent for what seemed like eternity before their bodies began to break apart and their data floated together…

111

Kuzuhamon panted heavily and she used her staff to keep herself from collapsing onto the floor. Metal Piranhmon floated above her, grinning a set of massive teeth. He stared down at the fox woman, her armor cracked and broken, her skin beginning to bleed, her energy almost destroyed. Metal Piranhmon swooped in for another attack. The fox woman attempted to leap to safety, but the demonic Deep Saver's metal tail whipped around and smashed into her at high velocity. Kuzuhamon fell to the hard concrete floor, landing with a mighty thud. Her body remained perfectly still until it glowed brightly, returning back to Miayag and Plotmon.

The demonic Deep Saver chuckled. "So tell me, where is your great defiance now?"

The Priestess tried to speak, but she was only able to cough.

Metal Piranhmon grinned. "I shall now send you to see your grandfather, tell him I said hi. 3D…"

A massive light suddenly exploded from the Digital Gate. Kurata dove for cover as the horizontal column of light collected into a giant egg, which hovered in the center of the room. A silence fell from their lips as they watched with simple awe as the giant egg slowly began to disintegrate. It started at the top, the particles slowly breaking off and vanishing into nothingness. As the egg shell vanished, a figure could clearly been seen within, a large armored figure that hovered in the air, his arms-one wearing a dragon-shaped gauntlet, and the other with a wolf-shaped gauntlet-crossed over his head. The egg shell completely vanished, and the figure threw his arms open, his cape billowing behind him. "Guess who's back!" he shouted.

"Omegamon X!" Miayag and Plotmon exclaimed.

The Royal Knight glanced over his shoulder to see the Priestess and her partner. They were both clearly injured; Miayag was not even able to stand without supporting herself with the Staff of Yuushi. He turned his head back towards Juro and Metal Piranhmon.

If the Fallen Chosen was nervous, he did not show it. Instead, he turned slightly to Kurata, who was crawling back to the control panel. "It's operational?! Why didn't you say so?!"

The renegade scientist examined the display on the panel, "It's still not safe! Their atoms could have been annihilated; you need to wait just a little longer."

"How long?"

"Ten minutes, if that.."

He nodded and turned back to the Royal Knight. "So, you managed to pull yourself back together, huh? He stared at the hovering Mega. "Omegamon X..impressive. You didn't get a chance to show yourself during out last encounter, but, like Priestess Miayag had stated, had you appeared, you may have defeated us." He smiled slightly, "And I'm sure you remember how much your deaths hurt your loved ones, Sora and Noriko, for instance."

Metal Piranhmon hovered before the silent Omegamon X. "Just think, if you hadn't of lost, then maybe Sora wouldn't have spent the past few nights crying herself to sleep, all because of your…"

He was not able to finish as the Metalgarurumon X gauntleted fist smashed him in the side of his face. The demonic Deep Saver twisted through the air; he was able to stop himself before crashing through the far wall. He glared at the Royal Knight, "Just so you know, I gave you that one…"

Omegamon X rolled his eyes, "So full of shit…"

The Deep Saver growled. "You don't scare me! Just because you beat GranDracmon means absolutely shit to me! All that time spent split into different personalities probably completely drained you… I'm still stronger then you, a thousand times stronger!"

"Then bring it on!" the Royal Knight shouted, "I'm getting tired of your fucking mouth, Piranhmon! You and your partner have looked down your noses at us for the last fucking time! You think you're better then us, your arrogance is going to destroy you!"

Metal Piranhmon did not move.

"Come on!" Omegamon X screamed, "Let's see how powerful you are, or are you just talk?"

His opponent roared with anger. "Max Power Vice!" The Deep Saver shot forward like a bullet, his jaws aiming for the knight's chest. He opened his mouth, ready to strike…

….but Omegamon X's Wargreymon X gauntleted hand punched his jaw as hard as he could. The Deep Saver screamed in pain and writhed in agony. The bottom portion of his mouth hung limply from his face-his jaw was clearly broken. He struggled as hard as he could before he was able to pull that damaged portion back into position with a deafening popping sound.

"Damn," the knight muttered, "Just dislocated, but you're still going to have to eat all your meals with a straw."

Metal Piranhmon mourned for his shattered teeth, but there would be time to replace them later, he needed to defeat his enemy. He said nothing as he whipped his tail around, intending to use the attached plunger to knock the Royal Knight's head off. However, a glowing sword slid out of the Wargreymon X hand and with a quick motion, severed the Deep Saver's tail, which fell to the ground with a loud clank.

"Ready to call it quits yet?" Omegamon X chuckled, "You're falling to pieces…"

Metal Piranhmon glared at his opponent, rage over-taking his senses. "All right, let's see what you've got, 3D Laser!"

His energy attack exploded forth, sailing across the warehouse floor, heading for its intended target. Omegamon X watched with surprising calmness as the attack that was capable of killing even Megas came towards him.

Miayag could only stare in horror, as she was certain that the death of Taichi and Yamaot was about to occur again. "No!" she screamed.

Omegamon X whipped his Metalgarurumon X arm forward. "Garuru Cannon!" The Royal Knight's own beam smashing into the 3D laser, halting its forward movement only inches from Omegamon X's face. The beams splintered at the impact point, flying in all directions. One stray blast even managed to strike the Digital Gate itelf.

The Demonic Deep Saver struggled to keep his energy beam focused, but it soon became apparent that the Garuru Cannon was simply too powerful for his meager 3D Laser. For the first time in countless years, Metal Piranhmon felt fear, overwhelming, intense fear. In his crazed terror, he twisted to flee, but that left him wide open for the Garuru Cannon beam, which slammed into his side. The beam took him flying through the air, and he would have kept going if he had not crashed into the wall. The bricks shattered, burying him in a pile of debris. The Deep Saver emerged a moment later, a massive wound in his side. He scanned for Omegamon X, and, unfortunately for him, discovered the Royal Knight falling at him from the ceiling. His Grey Sword was held above his head, glowing brightly. "All Delete."

He swung the sword deep into Metal Piranhmon's back, and the demonic Deep Saver's body was suddenly covered with darkness, and all was still for the merest of moment's before Metal Piranhmon's data exploded, showering the warehouse with data that slowly vanished into nothingness.

"No!" Juro screamed, "No! I will see you destroyed for this!" He reached for his Flail of Chance, "I'll use my weapon's power, I'll alter fate, I'll bring him back, I'll…"

He was interrupted as a mighty shockwave suddenly erupted through the air. All eyes twisted to the Digital Gate. The mysterious portal was beginning to shimmer in a bright red light. Miayag rose to her feet, clutching her injured side. "I assume that is not a normal occurrence!"

Kurata was already at the control panel, examining the readings that were being displayed over the monitor. "That energy blast damaged a central stabilizer!"

"Meaning what?" Omegamon X snapped.

"There's nothing to hold the dimensional energy in check! If we don't fix this, the entire city could get sucked pulled into a dimensional irregularity!" He glared at Juro, "This is what I said would happen!"

"How do we repair this?" the Priestess asked.

Kurata's hands were dancing over the control panel. "The problem is that the gate needs to…'lock onto' something, so to speak, and without the Digital World, there's nothing for that portal to go to."

"What?" Omegamon X shouted.

"Without something on the other end, the Gate doesn't have anywhere to go! The stabilizer was needed to keep the energy in check, even though it wasn't going to anywhere."

"Do we need to realign the stabilizer?" Miayag asked.

Kurata shook his head. "That would be the best solution, but we can't repair it while the dimensional aspect is still active. I'm attempting to shut it down now…" A power surge suddenly erupted across the panel, throwing him into the ground. There was another surge, this time electrical bolts ripped around the entire metal circle. Kurata ran to Miayag's side. "The panel's been destroyed, I can't shut it down, it's too unstable!"

"What do we have to do?" Omegamon X demanded.

The scientist mentioned to the gate. "It's already in shut-down procedure, but it can't do that with the portal acting so erratic. The only way to manage that energy now, is to give it something to center around. If the Digital World isn't there, it can't center on that, so…." He took a deep breath, "We need to throw something inside."

"Like what?" Miyaga's Plotmon asked, glancing at the debris lying around the warehouse.

"Nothing that small," he said, "So far, the irregularity in the gate is growing very slowly, so we don't need a building or anything that large but…."

"Something of human mass?" Miayag asked.

The scientist nodded. "Yes."

She nodded. "Very well." She began to walk towards the malfunctioning gate, only to be stopped by Omegamon X's giant arms. "Sorry, this one's mine."

She shook her head. "I cannot let you, you have just return. What about Sora and Noriko? They need you…"

Kurata turned his attention away from the arguing Chosen, then at Juro, who was only standing to the side, his eyes furrowed with rage. The scientist stared at the gate. "I've endangered everyone...my career, my reputation…it's gone…I won't be remembered as the man who destroyed this city…"

He studied his path for a moment. He took a deep breath, then charged forward as fast as he could. He held out his left arm, and snatched Juro, causing the Fallen Chosen to drop the Flail of Chance, clanging onto the floor. This brought Miayag and Omegamon X's attention.

"No!" Miayag shouted, "Dr. Kurata!"

"Unhand me at once!" Juro shouted, struggling to break free, but Kurata was less then half of the Fallen Chosen's age, his strength was far superior.

"This is our fault!" Kurata shouted back, "I was forced to do this by you, perhaps I should have fought back, but now I will redeem myself."

"Stop!" Omegamon X shouted, "Kurata!"

The Hypnos scientist did not answer, but Juro screamed in protest. This was un-headed as the scientist, carrying the Fallen Chosen, dove into the glowing energy of the Digital Gate. The red light began to swirl, merging with all colors of the rainbow before slowly growing smaller, and smaller before vanishing in a burst of electrical energy.

The room was silent, the Chosen only stared in awe. "Kurata…" Omegamon X said.

Miayag made a motion with her hands. "May you rest in peace."

111

Outside the warehouse, the Chosen had succeeded in defeating the three renegade Hypnos soldiers. Ootori and Onodera had placed the cuffs onto their backs, and the rest of the Chosen were about to run inside. They stopped when they saw Miayag slowly exiting the door, limping badly and using her staff as support. When the Priestess saw them staring questioningly at her, she smiled slightly and moved aside, mentioning with her hands. Sora, Noriko and their partners stared with wide eyes as Taichi, Yamato and their partners slowly stepped onto the street, Jyou, Michael and _their_ partners on their backs.

The females screamed with intense joy and tackled the males, causing them to drop their unconscious cargo. "Oops," Taichi said with a slight smile, hoisting Jyou back onto his back.

"Taichi," Sora cried, hugging him tightly, "Oh, don't ever _ever_ do that again!"

Noriko had tears in her eyes as well. "Yamato, you big jerk! You know how worried I was? I had to take a job as a fucking burger bitch!"

The blond man grinned. "I'm glad to see you too."

She only sighed and hugged him as tight as she could. "W…what was it like?" she asked, "I mean…when you were Koji and Yariko and…"

He was silent for a minute. "It's…hard to explain. Like…like I remember being Koji, but I remember being Yariko too. It's confusing…"

While Taichi and Sora were embracing, the young man noticed Hikari and Yamaki staring at them. He gently pulled Sora away and allowed his sister to hug him as well. He glanced at Yamaki, and nodded slightly at the other man.

"Thanks for your help," he said.

Yamaki crossed his arms. "Yeah, some help. None of this would have happened if…" He gasped, "Where's Kurata and Juro?"

He sighed and glanced away. "He sacrificed himself to stop the gate from going out of control…and he took Juro with him."

Yamaki sighed. "So Hypnos was completely useless in the end…"

Taichi shrugged. "Well, I don't think it's that bad of an idea…just…maybe it needs to be more of a…a strike force instead of a spy agency."

Yamaki stared at him, then slightly rubbed his chin. "That might not be that bad of an idea…."

Hikari wiped a tear away from her eye. She turned and noticed Miayag and her Plotmon slowly walking away. "Wait!" she shouted, "Please, don't go!"

The Priestess stopped, then turned to face her cousin. "I think it would be for best."

"Why?" Hikari asked.

She mentioned to the group of Chosen behind her. "I don't belong here, this is your family and friends."

"But you're my family!" she protested, "You're…you're my friend…"

She smiled. "Thank you, but…"

"Wait!"

They turned to see Noriko running towards them. "Miayag, I…I just wanted to…um…uh…you know…."

The Priestess stared at her.

"This isn't easy for me, all right!" she snapped, "Um…I'm sorry for…for how I've acted to you, and…thank you for…for bringing Yamato back…"

She gave a slight bow. "Thank you for your kind words, Lady Noriko, but you have every right to be angry with me."

She shrugged slightly, "Yeah, but…" She mentioned to Hikari, "She told me your were different, but…but I didn't want to believe it. Thanks."

The Priestess gave a slight bow.

"You're not going, are you?" Hikari asked.

"I think it would be for best," she sighed, "But I wish you the best. Farewell." Her Plotmon waved in an excited jump, and she and the Priestess slowly vanished into the shadows of the evening sky. Hikari only watched, and she was soon joined by her brother.

"Why didn't she want to stay?" she asked, "I don't understand."

Her brother shrugged. "We can't force people to be who they don't want to be."

"But she's our family," Hikari protested, "She's alone, why doesn't she want to be with us? I just don't understand, family should stick together…"

Taichi did not answer, just lightly embraced her.

111

Sora _Kamiya_ could not be happier. She sat within her chair, lightly rubbing the fabric of her dress. In the seat next to her, Taichi raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she grinned, "I'm just so happy, I've got a lot of energy…I feel like I'm five years old!"

Taichi gave a slight smile. He never heard her say so much with a single breath before. He was excited too, but had better experience with keeping his emotions in check. He simply turned back to the reception hall, watching as his guests filed through the doors. After what seemed like hours, the wedding guests had finally all been seated.

Yamato stood up and cleared his throat. "Well, everyone, I want to welcome you to the wedding of two of my best friends. Taichi and Sora Kamiya!"

They entire hall began to clap as the newlyweds bowed. Yamato took another deep breath, "Once upon a time, there were a group of kids that were chosen to save both the Digital World and Earth. I've known these two since I was ten-years-old. We've been through everything together, we've depended on each other, we've helped each other. Fighting for your life can bring people together like that."

He frowned slightly, "But when the Second Black Death hit the Digital World, that's when we drifted apart, we just couldn't take the tragedy." He smiled once more, "But we were drawn together again, and we found true love. "

He gave a small nod, "But, the story begins once upon a time, it ends, happily ever after." He turned to Taichi and Sora, "May you both live happily ever after."

The guests began to clap once again, and Taichi and Sora kissed passionately.

111

_Each of the knights watched in horror as the ground before them exploded, showering the area with shards of rock and dirt. Their armor protected them, so they remained in place. The reason for the explosion soon became apparent, as a massive tree, far larger then should even be possible, erupted from the ground. Standing on the branches were more figures, these ones seemed to be human, yet humans with clearly visible mechanical components. One had a claw for a hand, another had a robotic eye, a third had metal limbs, and the last had a carried a metal sword. They wore metal face masks, and wore gray and black._

_The knights did not wait for any attack, they knew their enemies, and these were they. As the armored warriors ran forward, the enemy with the metal sword, who was standing on the top branch of the giant tree, waved his arm, and the other cyborg-creatures leapt to engage the knights._

_The third knight, the one with white armor and a massive shield, was dispatched quickly by a cyborg with a giant hammer. Despite his attempts to defend himself, the hammer-wielding one crushed his head with his giant mallet._

"_I'm the son of…who?"_

"_Now that I've got this, I'll do whatever I can!"_

"_I'm sorry, this is happening to you…because of me…!"_

_The fourth knight, the one with the brown armor and large white wings, rushed to his aid. His raised his rapier, but the hammer-wielder blocked with his mallet, the strength of the jab nearly threw the fourth knight into the trunk of the massive tree, but he held his ground. Unfortunately, it proved to be no use, as the hammer-wielder smashed his weapon into the knight's chest, shattering his armor._

"_What does she see in him?"_

"_We've been friends forever,, I'm not gonna leave you now."_

"_You think you're the only ones that deserve to be here? I've got family in this too!"_

_The fifth knight used his shield to avoid the rapid-bunches of his opponent, who seemed to have super speed, as he darted and dashed around the knight. The speedy-cyborg was able to run straight up the trunk of the tree. The fifth knight followed by jumping into the air, once he reached the running cyborg, he manipulated the ribbons like a steel chain, ready to throw it into the running cyborg, but his opponent pushed against the trunk, flipping behind the fifth knight and unleashing a barrage of rapid punches that was able to shatter the back of his armor._

"_I'm not sure what I can do, but if you need help…"_

"_I'm not going to be the weakling anymore! It's time to believe in myself!"_

"_This is for my family, my friends, for everyone that's counting on me!"_

_The seventh knight, the one with the skeletal body, found himself in opposition against one with a claw for an arm. The seventh knight used his own sharp gauntlets to slash at the cyborg's midsection, but he countered by showering him with bolts of energy. The seventh knight crossed his arms to block his head, but the clawed-cyborg slashed at his leg, then executed a roundhouse, smashing his foot into the side of the knight's head._

"_I hated her, you know…"_

"_I don't care about the danger, I'm going to save her!"_

"_I will found my own legacy!"_

_The eighth knight leapt to his aid, leaping into the air to strike the clawed-cyborg with his glowing crossbow, but the cyborg displayed remarkable speed. He dropped to his knees, the eighth knight's arrow striking the seventh knight instead. While the seventh fell, down the trunk of the tree, the eighth began to battle the clawed cyborg. He jabbed and slashed with his lance, but the claw on the cyborg grew to monstrous size and he easily batted the crossbow from the eighth knight's hand._

"_I'm not much of a fighter, but…"_

"_I just want to help,"_

"_I don't want to hurt you, but you leave me no choice."_

_The sixth knight and the ninth knight teamed up together as they charged at the cyborg with the robotic eye. This cyborg appeared to be female, and as her opponents ran towards her, she whipped out two large, mechanical crossbows and began to fire arrows of pure metal. The sixth knight used his large spear to bat away the projectiles, allowing the ninth knight to fly forward, the saber on his arms glowing brightly. The cybrog merely smirked and mentioned with her hand. All of the scattering arrows suddenly whipped around in a circle and a barrage of sharp arrows ripped into his back._

"_This is family honor."_

"_Her death ruined my father, so I'll ruin him by killing you!"_

"_I'm a traitor to both sides, I'm welcome no where."_

_The ninth knight spun around to watch his falling friend, and the female cyborg leapt into action. She began to assault the knight with a barrage of kicks and punches, bashing and pounding. The knight blacked and struck with the glowing saber on his arm, but soon the female cyborg placed her two mechanical crossbows together and fired a massive bolt of dark energy that slammed into the knight's chest at full force, throwing him into one of the thicker branches, where he bounced in the recoil, yet remained perfectly still._

"_I have no friend, my family hates me, I am alone…."_

"_I think I love you."_

"_I'm just trying to protect my little brother, aren't you trying to do the same?"_

_The first knight and the second knight charged past their fallen friends and focused on the cyborg standing on the central branch, his arms crossed and an amused expression on his face. The second knight gripped his staff and sword tightly as he took the lead. The central cyborg simply smirked and grabbed the extended blade with his metallic hands. His other hand whipped around and grabbed the knight's wrists. He struggled to break free, but the cyborg squeezed and forced him to drop his sword. The knight was about to attack with his staff, but the cyborg kicked his as hard as he could in the stomach, then pointed his fist at the knight's chest, firing a massive blast of energy that struck the knight, throwing him backwards where he slammed as hard as possible into the trunk of the tree. The cyborg finished with another energy blast at point-blank range._

"_I am the cause of…of this."_

"_I will not allow any harm to come to you; I shall give myself to him."_

"_I care not who you are, you are my enemy, and I shall defeat you."_

_He was about to attack with another energy blast, but spun around just in time to use his metal sword to block the first knight's sword, which extended from his dragon-headed gauntlet. The two began a sword fight, jabbing, trusting and blocking. The first knight leapt into the air and swung his sword, but it was blocked by the cyborg's sword. His opponent pushed the first knight with his foot. He held up his metal sword, which glowed a bright color. He slashed across the knight's chest, creating a large gash in his armor. The first knight stumbled backwards, as the cyborg raised his glowing sword, ready to execute his kill shot…._

……_..The First Act was completed long before the current players stepped on the stage……….._

……_The Second Act was dominated by a demon of failed evolution and a vampire posing as human……._

……_.The Third Act contained a false religion and a vampire god……._

…_.The Interlude contained the shattering of souls………_

………_Now the Final Act is about to begin…….._

…_Taichi_ _and Sora Yagami………_

…_..Kasumi Yagami……._

……_.Akira Yagami…….._

…_.Yamato and Noriko Ishida……._

…_.Shiro Ishida……._

…_Yasu_ _Ishida….._

_Mitsuo_ _and Hikari Yamaki….._

…_.Asami Yamaki….._

………_Heir of the Priestess……._

………_Dawn of the Heroes..._

……_The Demon's Quest……_

…_..The Tides of Fate Begin to Turn…_

…_.Agents of Destruction……_

…_Invitation from the Demons…_

…_Encephalogram of the Psyche…_

…_Departure…_

…_Death…_

…_Purgatory…_

…_Rebirth…_

…_Ascension…_

…_.The Fall of the Chosen….._

_Will any survive…._

…_the conquest of paradise?_

…_..Digimon: Magog….._


End file.
